Pastor Wayne Cordeiro
April 14, 2002 - W0215

How correctable are you? Your correctability factor is one of the most important things about you. It determines how quickly you learn, the quality of your relationships, even your success in life. Correctability is the one factor that determines how well you stay on track for success.

Correctability is a bit different from teachability. Teachability is defined as your ability to learn new things while youíre growing; to improve when things are going well. Correctability, on the other hand, is your ability to respond to correction when things are starting to go wrong. Your correctability factor is your ability to respond to truth that God reveals to you. How do you respond when God brings truth to you? Do you deny it? Do you excuse it?

Question 1: How quickly can you adapt to what He says to you? Are you resistant, stubborn, slow to change or quick to obey? How is your correctability factor?

This is crucial to your success because when you begin the race you will not have what it takes to finish it. You have to garner that along the way. Often it comes through those who have gone before youógiving you a word of direction. The key is: Are you able to receive that direction?

As you move toward success, youíll have correction along the way. Why? Because too often we begin with the wrong definition of success, one thatís been set by Hollywood, Wall Street or the Joneses. After that, we start to jettison everything thatís truly precious. All the while the seeds of success lay resident in our bosom. Yet we trade it for everything the world says is success.

We see this exemplified in the life of King Saul ñ who lost his correctability. And all of the resulting compromises he made culminated in the end of his reign, his dynasty, and even his life.

God instructed King Saul to annihilate the entire Amalekite tribe. Seems extreme but the reason was because when the Israelites first came out of the desert, the Amalekites would attack any stragglers and kill them. The Lord instructed them to overcome these people because they preyed upon their weaknesses and He wanted to prevent that.

Hereís a word for you and for me: There will be times when the Lord will ask us to do the same. There are going to be things in our lives that prey upon our weaknesses. These things will eat away at your future little by little. It starts with small compromisesópulling and tempting you. And the Lord tells you that you canít even play with these things in your life. It might be pornography or alcohol, homosexuality or drugs. Nobody sees this secret sin, these little compromises, but just like the Amalekites did it has the power to destroy you.

God tells us to completely wipe these things out of our lives! These ìAmalekite thingsî need to be completely annihilated. Leave nothing of itónot even a residueóbehind. Get rid of it all! Or it will begin to grow and take control over you again.

Question 2: What are the ìAmalekite thingsî in your life, the small compromises or sins that tempt you? How can you prevent them from growing into larger issues later in life?

I was hiking with my friend, Mike, up a creek bed in Oregon when we stepped over a log and heard the telltale rattling of a rattlesnake. Sure enough, a four-foot rattler came sliding out from under the log. Mike grabbed a stick and began toying with itógetting it to strike and express its venomóall in the name of fun. Being a Hawaii boy, I was scared to death but Mike kept showing off and playing around. He soon grew tired of his game and decided we should kill it. I was all for that! He grabbed a shoestring and made a noose out of it, planning to hang it and cut its head off. But before he could, the snake struck, fastening itself deep into his hand.

Mike couldnít get it out and finally coached me through grabbing its head backwards out of his hand before finally killing it. It was too lateóthe venom had gone deep. Even though he tried to cut it open and suck it out the damage was done. To this day, Mike has lost feeling in that thumb; itís completely deformed now. As I look back on it now, I think that instead of playing with that, we should have killed it immediately. Because when we least expect it, those dangerous things we play with can turn on us and do serious damage.

King Saul suffered from this very thingóbecause he refused to kill of dangerous things in his life. The results were tragic. Letís take a look at where Saul went wrong, so we donít have to:

ìThus says the Lord of Hosts, ëNow go and strike Amalek and utterly destroy all that he hasÖí But Saul and the people spared the best of [King Agag] and the best of the sheep, the oxen the fatlings, the lambs, and all that was goodÖ but everything despised and worthless, they utterly destroyedî (1 Sam. 15:3,9).

In other words, Saul only killed what he wanted to and toyed with the rest. And that small compromise, paired with a lack of correctability, was the beginning of his downfall. Letís learn the lesson of preventing correctability killers in our lives.

CORRECTABILITY KILLERS:

1.                  DENIAL

ìWhen Samuel reached him, Saul said, ëThe Lord bless you! I have carried out the Lordís instructions.í But Samuel said, ëWhat then is this bleating of sheep in my ears? What is this lowing of cattle that I hear?íî (1 Sam. 15:13-14).

Saul claimed to obey completely. But behind him came the distinctive ìbaaaaî of sheep and the mooing of cows he had saved for himself. His sin cried out louder than his denial.

That happens a lot, doesnít it? We know everything God tells us, but we canít quite complete it. We know all there is to know about forgiveness, but we canít forgive. We can teach a class on joy, but thereís no joy in our lives. We claim that ìeverythingís just fineî but behind us is the ìbaaaaî of a bad marriage or bad finances. ìNo really, Iím fine. Thatís just a baaaa-d day and baaaa-ck homeÖ we need to get back home, thatís all. No sheep here; nothingís wrong here!î

Question 3: Are there areas of ìbleating sheepî in your life, areas where everything seems fine on the outside but arenít so fine on the inside?

We can deny things but the Lord sees the truth and asks us, ìThen whatís the bleating of sheep I hear?î Denial is a natural tendency that resides in every single one of us. But when we choose denial over correctability, this is what takes place: ìThey will act as if they are religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godlyî (2 Tm. 3:5).

Discussion Prompt: Look at that Scriptureó2 Tm. 3:5óagain. Using the SOAP method (Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer) discuss what this scripture means and how you might apply it in your walk.

Whatís the antidote for denial?           

ÿ      CORRECTION: Genuine Repentance

Instead of denying it, just accept it and say, ìYou know, youíre right. I do have to work on that. Can you help me? How can I make that change?î

ìRepent therefore and return, that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lordî (Acts 3:19).

Genuine repentance begins by agreeing with God. It means turning away from the direction you were going to turn back to God. And when youíre able to do this, you will experience not suffering, but a refreshing that comes from being in the presence of the Lord. Thatís when the grip of the enemy on your life is broken. And thatís why he makes it so hard to repentóbecause he knows that once thereís genuine repentance heíll have no hold over you.

A repenting man or woman is a healthy man or woman. A repenting church is a healthy church. You see, when we repent, we enter the presence of God and we become correctable. The first correctability killer is denial and we overcome it with genuine repentance. The second common killer to our correctability (and success) is this:

2.                  BLAMING OTHERS

ìAnd Saul said, ëThey have brought them from the Amalekites, for the people spared the best of the sheep and oxen, to sacrifice to the Lord your God; but the rest we have utterly destroyedíî (1 Sm. 15:15).

When Saul was confronted with his sin, and immediately blamed others. We all do that. We all have a tendency to look for someone else to lay the blame on: ìThe reason Iím this way is because of my parents,î or ìItís my wifeís fault.î

The correction for this is simple:

ÿ      CORRECTION: Practice Humbling Yourself

ìHumble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper timeî (1 Pt. 5:6).

Humble whom? Yourself. Not others, yourself. The reason we have to practice humbling ourselves is because it doesnít come easily. You must practice it. Your flesh will scream against it, but continue to practice it and make it a habit that becomes part of your character.

One of the best corrections is self-correction. God tells us that the choice is simple: ìEither you humble yourself, or I will humble you. Which would you like?î I donít know about you, but Iíll humble myself thank you! Because when God has to step in, you and I will be humbled. But God gives us the option ahead of time. Choose correctability and be humbled so that He may exalt you in His time.

Question 4: How do you humble yourself? What are some ideas for self-correction, and what method works best for you?

The final correctability killer is a big one:

3.                  IMAGE

ìThen he said, ëI have sinned; but please honor me now before the elders of my people and before Israel, and go back with me, that I may worship the Lord your Godíî (1 Sm. 15:30).

Saulís greatest concern after disobeying God and being called on it wasnít that the hand of God would be removed, and it wasnít that he had jeopardized his position as a wise leader who loved God. Saulís greatest concern was all about his imageólosing face in the publicís eye.

Too often we settle for image on the outside when thereís death going on inside our hearts, inside our families, and inside our workplaces. We play with deadly temptations rather than kill them. And all of the sudden, the devil latches on because heís here to steal, kill and destroy.

How do you cure for this final deadly killer of image? Simple,

ÿ      CORRECTION: Trust God

ìThe fear of man brings a snare, but he who trusts in the Lord will be exaltedî (Pr. 29:25)

Do it Godís way. We either do it Godís way or not. We trust Him, or not. If we do things His way, trusting His Word and His promises, then we allow Him to take care of the results. He will take care of ìlooking rightî if we will take care of ìbeing right.î See what God is saying, where He might be correcting you, and donít play around with it or tolerate it any longer. Kill it so that it cannot steal your success and your relationships.

Question 5: In what areas can you begin to trust God more?

How correctable are you? Are you soft clay thatís moldable or hard clay that has to be crushed? That difference will mean the difference between success and failure, victory and defeat. May you choose correctability through genuine repentance, humbling yourself, and trusting God. For it is then that God can exalt you in His time.

Question 6: What was the one thing you learned from this discussion? How will you be different because of what you learned?

Summarized by Dawn O'Brien