Failing to Listen to God

By Charles Stanley

Accept and be thankful for godly correction; your life will be better because of it.

2 Timothy 4:1-4,

1 I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom:

2 preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction.

3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires,

4 and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths.

In his second letter to Timothy, Paul charged his disciple to preach the Word and to correct and rebuke with great patience (4:2). A pastor could hardly have a more difficult assignment than this, because few people respond well to correction. What you do when you are criticized is a good indication of the maturity of your faith. Scripture tells us that the “one who neglects discipline rejects himself,” whereas the “one whose ear listens to a life-giving rebuke will stay among the wise” (Proverbs 15:31-32).

Every time criticism comes our way, we stand at a crossroads of possibilities for good or evil. Either we embrace correction and grow in maturity, or we reject it and start down the slippery slope described in 2 Timothy 4. In this passage, Paul outlines the behavior of those who become tired of reproof. He says they will reject sound doctrine and instead embrace teachings that “tickle” their ears (v. 3). Then they “will turn their ears away from the truth and will turn aside to myths” (v. 4).

We can’t afford to ignore truth, even when our critics are immature, ignorant, or tactless. Be mindful to stay attuned to God’s voice, regardless of the form it may take.

My thoughts – By Norman

Charles Stanley said in todays devotion that Biblical correction is for our good. However many “christians” will take Matthew 7 verse 1 out of context and use it as a weapon to defend against correction, ignoreing the rest of Jesus teaching in Matthew.