“For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.” Hebrews 12:6 (KJV)
This week a friend called and corrected me about my website's name. She said it plainly: "Pearl’s Grace sounds like it’s your grace, like you are the source". I thought for a quick moment and realized she was right. What I’m really trying to point people to is not my grace, but God’s Grace.
I didn’t feel embarrassed or thought she was rude. However, I felt that little inner sting because correction has a way of touching the pride we didn’t realize we were protecting. It wasn’t a big public moment. It wasn’t a major rebuke. It was just one sentence, offered in truth, yet it exposed something deeper: sometimes we can be sincere and still be slightly off-center. That’s how God corrects us so often, quietly, kindly, and precisely. Not to shame us… but to align us.
After I got off the phone, I sat with my thoughts for a moment. I replayed her words like a small echo. Not because she hurt me, but because she helped me. She didn’t call to criticize my heart or my work. She called to protect my message. In that moment I realized something: God’s correction rarely comes as a hammer. Most of the time it comes as a nudge. A whisper. A friend who loves you enough to say, “Sis… shift this a little.”
Correction is one of the ways God keeps us from building something that subtly points back to us. Even when our intentions are pure, God cares about our direction. He loves us too much to let our language, our tone, our motives, or our presentation drift into a place that misrepresents Him, even unintentionally.
Hebrews 12:6 says God corrects the ones He loves. That means correction isn’t proof you’re failing, it’s proof you’re being fathered. It’s proof you’re being guided. It’s proof you’re not abandoned to your own blind spots.
Correction is like the GPS rerouting you. You weren’t trying to get lost—you just missed a turn. The GPS doesn’t scream at you. It doesn’t shame you. It simply says, “Recalculating…” and offers a better route.
God’s correction is His mercy saying, “Let Me get you back on the right path before you go too far.” So I ask you......Where have you been quick to defend yourself instead of listening? Is there a correction you've labeled as “criticism” that might actually be God’s kindness? What does your response to correction reveal about what you are protecting?
Life Application
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Pause before you push back. That first sting isn’t always a signal to fight, it may be a signal to humble yourself and listen.
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Ask God, “What are You trying to align?” Not every correction is an attack; some are assignments to adjust.
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Receive correction as coverage. God corrects what He plans to use. He refines what He intends to bless.