Description
Correcting Others with Love and Humility: Insights from 1 Timothy 5:1-2
In this episode, we explore how to bring correc… (visit YouTube for more)
Transcript
When it’s our place to bring correction, how should we do that? Let’s look at 1 Timothy 5, verses 1 to 2. Do not rebuke an older man, but encourage him as you would a father, younger men as brothers, older women as mothers, younger women as sisters, in all purity.
Paul is speaking to Timothy, his protégé; a leader in the church and he’s advising him how to carry out correction. Almost every human has a strong urge to correct things that we think are wrong, especially when it’s someone else’s opinion and especially when it’s on the internet. Paul is not saying we should always correct everyone. This letter is in the context of church leadership. Where we have a right to bring a correction, how should we do it?
Encourage an older man as you would a father. How would you speak to your father if you have, I’m assuming here, a healthy relationship.
Do we not speak respectfully? Do we not give that man time, attention, and good reasons to understand where he might be wrong? We don’t seek to undermine. We seek to build up someone else’s knowledge of the truth.
It’s the same with younger men. We’re not beating them down. We’re saying, I love you, my brother. Let me show you this.
And it’s the same with older women, with younger women and Paul says do this in all purity. Make sure your motivation is right.
We are not here to prove ourselves right. Absolutely not. We are simply here to represent the word of truth as best we can. And we must do that in all humility, never seeking our own status or position, never seeking an advantage over any person, never trying to make ourselves appear righteous in comparison to anyone else. Never berating, never belittling. Always approaching these conversations with love, respect and humility.
