Humility #5—Freeing Humility

With meekness correct those who oppose the truth, so perhaps God may grant them repentance, which will lead to the knowledge of the truth, so they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will. 2 Timothy 2:25–26

Correction is for the sake of the corrected not the sake of the corrector. It’s bad enough that someone is following Adam and Eve’s bad example; we should not be stumbling blocks  in their path back to fellowship with God. Our humility will keep us from encouraging recalcitrance. We certainly don’t want to be responsible for preventing repentance. The attitude we possess, and the posture we assume as we attempt to persuade people concerning their view of reality determines, in part, their response to our arguments. What we say is important; how we say it even more so. For if our manner betrays our message, God will not act to deliver our hearers through our efforts. To maintain an attitude of humility and a posture of meekness, we must remember that Christ is the one who will finally do the delivering, and that Christ is the one to whom they will be delivered. We are merely his agents. It is not our glory or reputation that is at stake. Also, we would be wise to remember that we offer correction in order to free prisoners, not to become prisoners ourselves.

Heavenly Father, as I engage people with the powerful, loving, and sensible spirit you’ve given me, grant me the joy of seeing their lives light up at the truth.