In this week’s message, entitled “Responding to Correction”, we looked at Proverbs 9:7-12. We heard how responding to correction can be a matter of life and death. To better understand the implications of this, let’s consider these questions:
- When are you tempted to make decisions based on yourself rather than who God is? In these kinds of decisions how could you better focus on God’s relevance?
- When are you most tempted to consider correction as relatively worthless?
- When are you most tempted to respond to correction with anger?
- When tempted to respond to correction dismissively or in anger, how can you better position yourself to chose to respond wisely?
Let us pray this week for the humility and love to seek wisdom from above as it is conveyed to us by others.
This week’s message was entitled “Words that Work”. From Ephesians 4:29-32 we heard that forgiven hearts produce constructive words. In order to better understand the outworkings of this in our lives, consider these questions:
- Have you tended to think of your words (and their power) as a squirt gun, air-soft gun, paintball gun, or bazooka? Why?
- What does Scripture have to say about the power of our words?
- When are you typically tempted to speak a “corrupt” word? In these moments what would “putting off and putting on” look like?
- How does the gospel affect the way that you see those that you are speaking to? How could you make this a greater focal point?
- In what ways does our relationship with Christ help us in speaking words of grace?
Let’s pray this week that the Spirit would empower us to speak the grace of the gospel with fitting words that build up.
(For further study on this topic, we recommend the article “Speaking Redemptively” by Paul Tripp.)
In this week’s message, entitled “How to Bring Correction”, we looked at Matthew 18:15-20. We heard how sometimes Jesus calls us to correct one another, and he really cares how. To better understand how we’re to live this out with one another, let’s consider these questions:
- Do you tend to think of correction as something positive or negative? In what ways can Matthew 18:15-20 inform this perspective?
- When you are sinned against, what tends to keep you from going to the one who has offended you? What scriptures speak to this temptation?
- What motives often come into play when you bring correction to others? How do these motives compare with the motives that Scripture instructs us to have?
- Why is it so important that we have pure motives when bringing correction? How should this influence the way that we walk through correction?
- When it comes to your bringing correction to others, what difference does the gospel make?
Let us remember the mercy that we have received and display that mercy in our relationships, especially as we correct one another in patience and love.
This week’s message was entitled “When to Bring Correction”. From Matthew 7:1-5 we heard that the way we respond to sin should testify to God’s power, and this should distinguish us as Christians. In order to better understand the implications of this, consider these questions:
- Do you naturally lean more towards the talk radio extreme (being opinionated) or the relativistic extreme (not wanting to disagree)?
- When are you most tempted to pass judgment? How could the instruction of Matthew 7:1-5 help you with this?
- When those closest to you sin or fail, what do they first encounter from you, mercy or judgment? How could you grow in extending mercy?
- When you bring correction to others, how often do you spend time examining your own heart first? How might this affect the correction that you bring?
When it comes to our friends and family, let’s pray that God would help us to faithfully bring correction that is an expression of mercy, not judgement - reflecting the mercy that we have been shown.
