LIFE CHANGING CORRECTION
17th Jul 2024
I received Jesus as my Saviour at the age of eleven. No one had ever told me that I could invite Him to live in me and be my Lord. I was totally ignorant of Christian teaching. I didn’t know how to pray.
I asked the person who introduced me to Jesus - “How do I pray?” She told me God was invisible but real. She put two chairs side by side and told me to sit on one of them, then said the invisible God is here sitting beside you. “Tell Him everything, then listen to Him.” That is what I did, I told Him everything, the good, the bad, and the ugly, the joyful events and the things I was thankful for. No particular order. I simply poured out my heart to Him and believed that He heard me.
Very early on He told me that in our relationship He was a Father to the fatherless, that He would be my Father and would love me and never leave me, but He was a Father who would correct me and discipline me. Hebrews 12:7-11 speaks of this and in verse 5 encourages us to embrace God’s correction and training - it is for our good: “My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you.”
I thank God for His correction, His loving discipline, His persistence and patience with me, His total commitment to me, to teach me His ways and what pleases Him. Hebrews 12:11 tells us that, “discipline feels like it is going against the grain, but it is the well trained that find themselves mature in their relationship with God.”
I was at a boarding school when I received Jesus; life was structured and I had friends and teachers to help me, and Father God was very real. Things changed when I returned to my family home. I lost the tangible sense of God’s presence and didn’t know why. I then found out that I had allowed unforgiveness to find a place in my heart and didn’t want to let it go!
But, Father God in love and mercy and with great patience taught me a life changing lesson. He showed me that love and obedience are synonymous - if I love I will obey. He also taught me that will and emotions are not the same. I discovered that I could use my will to obey God, even if my emotions were totally opposed to the decision.
I had been treated badly by the man my mother was living with, but God was asking me to forgive. My emotions were full of hatred and anger - but God insisted that I should forgive. I clearly remember saying to God, “Don’t ask me to like this man.” and God saying, “I haven’t asked that of you, but to use your will to obey me and to choose to forgive him.”
It was a battle, but I wanted God’s presence more than anything else, and so I spoke out, “I forgive”, and detailed the things that had wounded and hurt. And since that day, I have sought to live with a clear conscience - quick to forgive and seek God’s healing for the hurt that comes with offence and broken relationships.
A very big life-changing lesson.
by Joyce Sibthorpe
