In Sunday School last week, the question came up of how to correct or confront someone in the wrong. I was reminded of this verse later on in Galatians.
Galatians 6:1 New International Version (NIV)
6 Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted.
this could be a friend, a church member, a child, or a family member. Everyone has sinned. There is one way we can help other people to get right. The Bible instructs us to speak in love.
Christians will often think we are right and what we have to say is truthful, we are more than ready to give others a piece of our mind. I mean, how can they stand against the truth? But you’ve probably also learned that just speaking your mind does not encourage others to change, especially if it is spoken in a tone of defensiveness, harshness, and just downright meanness.
How do you successfully correct another by speaking in love? Paul set a great example in Galatians 2:11-21. Paul tells of a time hen he confronted the apostle Peter. Who was one of the most prominent and respected leaders in the Jerusalem Church, Paul confronting him is shows his allegiance to the gospel of Jesus Christ over trying to make people happy.
While Peter was in a city called Antioch he freely ate and fellow-shipped with non-Jewish Christians. However, once some Jewish Christians joined Peter in Antioch, Peter started to distance himself from the non-Jewish Christians, the Gentiles. He was afraid of what his Jewish-Christian counterparts would think of him associating with others outside of his culture. Why was this wrong? Because Peter was falling away from the truth of the gospel that grants fellowship to all those who place their faith in Christ. Peter was wrong, and Paul was not afraid to confront him on the matter. But it’s how Paul confronts Peter that we can learn a great deal from.
Paul shows Peter the errors in his actions by reminding Peter that both Jew and Gentile are saved by grace through faith. This point was the core fact that Paul wanted to get across to Peter. By falling into the thought that one needed to follow Jewish custom and culture to be saved, Peter was forfeiting the grace of Christ.
Paul was not saying, “na na na na na, I’m right and your wrong.” Which is what we want to do so m any times. He was trying to get Peter back in line with the truth of the gospel. The truth Paul was saying is the gospel of Jesus Christ, that we don’t need to earn our salvation. The love is allowing that truth to be your motive. We need to want to see our sisters not give up sin in their lives and remember the grace of God.
Paul tells us some of what he said to Peter. It reads:
Galatians 2:19-21 New International Version (NIV)
19 “For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God. 20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. 21 I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!”
Paul reminds Peter of Christ and his Gospel. This should be on our hearts whenever we are in a situation where we are correcting someone about sin. Remember, they have sin and you have sin. Don’t forget the grace of God and don’t forget to love one other.
So whenever we see a sister doing this, like Paul saw Peter, we correct them, not by pointing out their weakness, but by exalting the power of Christ. It’s not just reminding them of the wrong they are now doing, but reminding them of who they are in Christ and all their potential in Him.
So instead of saying, “You are so lazy and complacent, and you will not amount to anything because you just keep making the same mistakes over and over again without learning from them,” we say, “God has given you some awesome gifts, I would love to help you serve God with them. You are free to choose better use of your time. Call me if you need help.”
Instead of saying, “You keep complaining about everything in the church, yet you keep doing the same things over and over, it will never change,” we say, “God loves you so much, He has blessed you with a mind for awesome ideas, You do not need to compromise your ideas, share them with others. God can work miracles if you are willing to trust him.”
Now I know sometimes we just want to have a “Come to Jesus” meeting, but pointing out someone’s weakness is never going to change them. Only the Holy Spirit can do that. It’s not about them agreeing with us; it’s about them agreeing with God. And I’m not saying you just throw a whole bunch of Bible verses at them. Your heart needs to be pure in the matter because people can tell if you just want to be right or if you really want to help them.