All of us have our shortcomings. The people who see these best are our family. We spend most time with them. While people outside our family may see only the outside of the cups, our family knows us inside out. They get to see the inner side of the cups. Certainly the Lord sees the insides. Often the families also sees the inside. Read the next verse which is insightful. Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also. (Matthew 23:26, NKJV) I certainly did feel like a pharasee when I read the verse. Dont we feel like a Pharisees?
So what can we do? When our family gives us feedback, we have various options. We can pounce on them with the ferociousness of a tiger. We can ignore them. We can accept it and change. We can prayerfully consider it for evaluation. Receiving the feedback with sincere thankfulness and humility is important. In the world receiving honest feedback costs $$$’s. Even after paying money, the feedback can be biased. But within the family, most often feedback is unbiased.
Since everyone are created different, think different, its important to prayerfully evaluate and consider inputs which you receive. Would Jesus Christ want you to consider and accept the feedback. Then go ahead. Even when you may decide not to go ahead with the feedback, sharing your thought process and reasoning with the family member may be a good thing to do. That way, you can give beneficial inputs, which may be blessing to the family.
We have a passage from 2 Samuel 11. It happened in the spring of the year, at the time when kings go out to battle, that David sent Joab and his servants with him, and all Israel; and they destroyed the people of Ammon and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem.Then it happened one evening that David arose from his bed and walked on the roof of the king’s house. And from the roof he saw a woman bathing, and the woman was very beautiful to behold. (2 Samuel 11:1-2 NKJV)
From the verses above it is clear that, but David remained in Jerusalem. Then it happened….Is it probable that King David’s near and dear ones would have given him feedback about being in the battle field. Most certainly yes. Since David was a goldly man, he would have surrounded him with decent. And its most likely that the family members would have known King Davids weakness? The reason being it’s not at all necessary that all these weakness and character shortcomings would have surfaced all at once. When feedback was given to him, would he have married Bathsheba, and killed Uriah? If he had evaluated and considered the feedback, would he fallen into sin?
When the wife of Uriah heard that Uriah her husband was dead, she mourned for her husband. And when her mourning was over, David sent and brought her to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son. But the thing that David had done displeased the Lord. (2 Samuel 11:26-27 NKJV)
Why getting corrected by family?
The benefit of getting corrected with family is great. Our eyes get opened in time. The change, the correction and renewal of the mind happens within the family. Else the issue snowballs and the whole world gets to see the inside of the cups!!. The hypocrisy gets exposed.
Then the Lord sent Nathan to David. And he came to him, and said to him: “There were two men in one city, one rich and the other poor. The rich man had exceedingly many flocks and herds. But the poor man had nothing, except one little ewe lamb which he had bought and nourished; and it grew up together with him and with his children. It ate of his own food and drank from his own cup and lay in his bosom; and it was like a daughter to him. And a traveler came to the rich man, who refused to take from his own flock and from his own herd to prepare one for the wayfaring man who had come to him; but he took the poor man’s lamb and prepared it for the man who had come to him.”
So David’s anger was greatly aroused against the man, and he said to Nathan, “As the Lord lives, the man who has done this shall surely die! And he shall restore fourfold for the lamb, because he did this thing and because he had no pity.” Then Nathan said to David, “You are the man! (2 Samuel 12:1-7 NKJV)
Blindness and falling into sin
When we ignore what we need to, we end up walking in blindness and falling into sin, murder happens. Nathan the prophet also gave King David a strong message fom God. God was displeased. Extremely bitter and painful consequences came upon King David due to this. This can be read in the red highlighted portion below.
Why have you despised the commandment of the Lord, to do evil in His sight? You have killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword; you have taken his wife to be your wife, and have killed him with the sword of the people of Ammon. Now therefore, the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised Me, and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.’ Thus says the Lord: ‘Behold, I will raise up adversity against you from your own house; and I will take your wives before your eyes and give them to your neighbor, and he shall lie with your wives in the sight of this sun. For you did it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel, before the sun.’ ”(2 Samuel 12:9-12 NKJV)
Using the 1st opportunity for change – for correction – is most important
Get corrected from sinful ways at the very earliest. Especially when you have feedback from your family.
But is that the first alert we get? Often before your family gives feedback, the Holy Spirit alerts you directly. If you ignore the Holy Spirit alert, the matter goes to the family. Should you further decide to miss the opportunity the dirtly linen gets washed in the public – outside the family – in this case with the prophet Nathen.The choice is yours! Postponing to tomorrow will be too late!
