. . . but it does require a real purpose to have value. As a teacher, if I misspeak or make an error in calculation, there is a clear purpose in admitting my errors to my students to ensure my students are not misguided or confused by my faults. If I correct my errors to the students without pointing out the prior incorrect instruction, it is likely that there may still be confusion, perhaps even more so. At the same time, if point out all my specific errors and their corrections to other teachers but never tell the students, there is still no real purpose for those admissions. Lastly, if I am not convinced that I made an error, I should not be very convincing of my fault and I most likely will add more to the confusion than to the correction. And it is to this last point where we may display the greater error of pride and arrogance, and perhaps a little stubbornness, that the admission of error on my part needs to take a serious consideration.
The apostle Paul, one of the greatest communicators of the truth in the Christian church, and a writer of a majority of the new testament letters, takes a unique approach regarding the correction of our faults. In his letter to Titus, Paul states,
“For we too were once foolish, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various lusts and pleasures, spending our life in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another. But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we did in righteousness, but in accordance with His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He richly poured out upon us through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.” (Titus 3:3-7)
Paul’s approach to acknowledging shortcomings and failures does not mean claiming how he is a much better person now, and that he has fixed those wrongful attitudes. A “fix” had occurred, but it is solely on the basis of the kindness and mercy of our God and Savior. In fact, Paul, and we too, can make no claim to self-help efforts and corrective actions. What a blessing it is to know that I don’t have to try harder or make up for past wrongs. No, the source of my correction is God’s grace, and the only reason why Paul even addresses the past fault is to glorify the God who saved him so that others may find the same hope, forgiveness, and transformation to a new life.
I started this post by pointing to the importance of purpose in changing from error to correction. Although responsibility to the truth is an important motivation, and we should always work toward correcting our faults, there is no greater purpose in life than to point the way to the One Who is Truth and has granted us a new life in Him simply because He loves us. Jesus is my purpose and my hope that life is not destine to failure but is a source of power, love and self-discipline through Jesus Christ to tell a dying world that the Father is welcoming us home.
Ministry to Black Forest Academy 