“Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.”
The Body
Paul gives specific instruction here for confronting a fellow believer’s fault, and the tone he specifies matters enormously: spirit of meekness, not harsh condemnation or self-righteous correction, but restoration, the actual, stated goal, approached gently, humbly, aware of your own vulnerability to the same kind of failure.
Notice considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. This is a needed check against the temptation to approach another’s fault from a position of assumed superiority, forgetting your own genuine vulnerability to failure. Genuine restoration requires this humility, remembering you are not fundamentally different from the one needing restoration.
This offers a needed correction against two opposite errors community can drift toward, either avoiding necessary confrontation entirely out of false kindness, or confronting harshly, without meekness, treating the one at fault as fundamentally other rather than a fellow struggler genuinely in need of restoration, not merely correction.
Consider today whether some necessary confrontation has been avoided out of false kindness, or delivered harshly without the meekness this verse specifically requires. Approach it, or reapproach it, today in the spirit of meekness, considering yourself, aimed genuinely at restoration.
Strengthen the Body
- Name a situation requiring confrontation you have either avoided or approached harshly.
- Approach it today in the spirit of meekness, considering your own vulnerability first.
- Aim specifically at restoration, not merely correction or condemnation.
Prayer
Lord, give me the spirit of meekness for necessary confrontation, considering myself, lest I also be tempted. Let restoration, not condemnation, be my actual aim. Amen.
Carry this today
Restoration in meekness, not correction from assumed superiority.