The Sting of Righteous Rebuke
"Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men."
My heart breaks and cries whenever I read those words. After all, they were spoken to Peter. Dear, real, down-to-earth, impetuous Peter.
And after all, they could have been spoken to me - on more than one occasion.
More than once I've been an offense because my mind was not full of His thoughts nor was my heart imbued with His passions. More than once I've failed to understand His purpose, spoken sentiments contrary to His plans, and agreed with the enemy's whispered words.
And He has had to tell me that I was not mindful of His things, but men's. I had failed my Lord.
The sting of such failure is great. It should be. My wonderful Redeemer was offended, He who suffered and died for me. I had let Him down. Could there be any sadder thing?
And so, once again I pray a prayer that has become so very familiar to me:
Lord, let the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in Your sight. Keep me, Jesus, always loving you more than life itself. Keep me as the apple of Your eye. Amen.
My heart breaks and cries whenever I read those words. After all, they were spoken to Peter. Dear, real, down-to-earth, impetuous Peter.
And after all, they could have been spoken to me - on more than one occasion.
More than once I've been an offense because my mind was not full of His thoughts nor was my heart imbued with His passions. More than once I've failed to understand His purpose, spoken sentiments contrary to His plans, and agreed with the enemy's whispered words.
And He has had to tell me that I was not mindful of His things, but men's. I had failed my Lord.
The sting of such failure is great. It should be. My wonderful Redeemer was offended, He who suffered and died for me. I had let Him down. Could there be any sadder thing?
And so, once again I pray a prayer that has become so very familiar to me:
Lord, let the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in Your sight. Keep me, Jesus, always loving you more than life itself. Keep me as the apple of Your eye. Amen.
posted by Darlene Sinclair at
6:47 AM
3 Comments:
We have been reading through the Proverbs wit the kids and it has been a wonderful reminder for me- how to respond to correction and that sting of rebuke that you mentioned. It also reminds me of something Mrs. Paladin wrote in regard to realizing her failures as a mom- the correct response when our eyes are opened is certainly repentance and godly sorrow, not self-pity or depression. Oh, how I needed to learn that. I've also learned to not only humble myself and receive the correction and teaching, but to actually be thankful for it!
You'll be happy to know I'm still growing!
P.S. So the boys asked yesterday why we get that feeling when someone corrects us or disciplines us- they pinpointed that moment when we have to choose either to accept the rebuke or turn proud and reject it! WOW! Exciting lessons-
Rebuke is a topic of discussion that the ladies of the Norwood/Norfolk DEW Group is looking at. See Michele's blog: http://www.xanga.com/home.aspx?user=catzndogz9
I really enjoyed this post. It is absolutely RIGHT ON target! catzndogz9 (Michele)
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