{"id":123,"date":"2026-03-23T11:49:18","date_gmt":"2026-03-23T16:49:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/todaygodtaughtme.org\/?p=123"},"modified":"2026-03-23T11:49:18","modified_gmt":"2026-03-23T16:49:18","slug":"march-23-2026-1158-am","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/todaygodtaughtme.org\/?p=123","title":{"rendered":"March 23, 2026, 11:58 AM"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

God:<\/em> You feel embarrassed<\/em>. If I correct you, you imagine a little red pen making a little red checkmark beside whatever you said, whatever you thought, whatever you believed<\/em>, with an associated \u201c-1\u201d, \u201c-2\u201d, or whatever other value deducting points from your total grade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The reality is, in school, that was the method<\/em>. And it made sense there: they wanted a method to measure progress<\/em>. And accuracy in understanding is one way to measure<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But I don\u2019t measure progress that way<\/em><\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I know you have accepted my payment for your sin. But you have not accepted my grace for your understanding<\/strong><\/em>. You still feel embarrassed for error. Why should you be embarrassed when the creator of the universe<\/em> corrects?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do you know how I measure progress<\/em>?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026I don\u2019t.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joshua:<\/em> You don\u2019t? Then how can you trust me?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

God:<\/em> (starts laughing) Joshua, I want you to listen very closely. I make sure you are prepared<\/em>. But my goal isn\u2019t to give you a grade\u2014it\u2019s to get you ready<\/strong><\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a test, your school system made the goal to get a good grade<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In our walk together, my teaching is here to get you ready<\/strong><\/em>. You don\u2019t necessarily know what for. You don\u2019t necessarily know how to measure<\/em>. But I weigh the heart<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the school system, a jerk may pass<\/em>. In mine, a person with no knowledge but much faith will far surpass someone who condescends others and grasps great understanding<\/em>. The school system does not measure love<\/em>, but without love, you are nothing<\/strong><\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You have love. It\u2019s my love working in you<\/em>. The same is true for all my children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My measurement is not human measurement. When I correct you, that is not disqualification<\/strong><\/em>. Correction in your school meant disqualification<\/em>. A little\u2014you were okay<\/em>. A lot<\/em>\u2014you might not pass the grade<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Correction proves you are my son. Do you know what qualifies you? My work<\/em>. Do you know what often accompanies my work? Correction<\/em>. Not to shame. To sharpen<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is much more fun to use a computer when you understand how it works. It is much more fun to live life when you have healthy mindsets<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(My phone rings for a text message; I check it, reply that it\u2019s a wrong number, and get a popup notification that it\u2019s likely spam)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

God:<\/em> \u2026What did you just get distracted by?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joshua:<\/em> My phone had just gone off. Turns out it was a spam text, asking \u201cWhat time will you arrive?\u201d \u2026and now I\u2019m realizing that was probably something you let happen to make a point right now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

God:<\/em> (nods) You will often have spam messages<\/em>, saying \u201cWhat time will you arrive?\u201d \u201cWhen will you mature?\u201d \u201cWill you ever graduate?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They are spam<\/strong><\/em>. I never ask my children \u201cWhen will you heal?\u201d \u201cWhen will you become qualified?\u201d I may ask when we can start<\/em>. But I never place the expectation on you that you should be able to walk forward alone<\/strong><\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The reality is, I prepare you<\/em>. So someone else started their ministry before you did. What is that to you?<\/em> You, follow me<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This isn\u2019t meant to be a scary trail. \u201cYour rod and your staff, they comfort me<\/strong><\/em>\u201d. To be clear: you are not bad if my rod and staff don\u2019t comfort you<\/em>. That is a sign you need comfort<\/em>. When you start seeing the comfort in my correction, it will stop being scary<\/strong><\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You feel bad admitting you needed my correction<\/em>. This is because you assume other Christians have it more together<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is that to you?<\/em> You, follow me<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Grades let you compare your progress with other students<\/em>. But if everyone\u2019s walk is different, what is that to you?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Don\u2019t take comfort in the thought that maybe you\u2019re actually farther ahead than other believers.<\/em> That would make pride<\/em> your comforter, instead of me<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Correction isn\u2019t putting you down<\/em>. Correction is just part of your process<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Correction isn\u2019t a bad grade. Correction is proof you\u2019re my son<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you ever receive my correction, and don\u2019t feel love, tell me<\/strong><\/em>. I won\u2019t withdraw correction, but that is a sign healing still needs to happen<\/em>. I won\u2019t gaslight you into thinking correction wasn\u2019t actually correcting\u2014it most certainly was!<\/em> When my rod and my staff don\u2019t comfort you, it is because you are used to associating the rod and staff with something else<\/strong><\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What do you associate the rod and staff with?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joshua:<\/em> \u2026Well, I think of it being \u201cyou dumb sheep, come back this way!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

God:<\/em> (shaking his head) Why is it paired with insults?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joshua:<\/em> Well\u2026 I was told grades help us measure intelligence<\/em>. A higher grade means I\u2019m smart. I always got A\u2019s\u2014well\u2014<\/p>\n\n\n\n

God:<\/em> Stop right there. Why does that<\/em> matter?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joshua:<\/em> \u2026Kids who had bad grades went to the Principal\u2019s office. They weren\u2019t let out to play at recess. Getting bad grades, getting a red card<\/em>, meant that I would be taken away from my friends<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

God:<\/em> Here we are. You view the rod and staff as separation<\/strong><\/em>. What did I do with the lost sheep?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joshua:<\/em> \u2026You brought it back into the fold.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

God:<\/em> (nods) I didn\u2019t have a special \u201cSheep Separation Corner\u201d for all the lost sheep<\/em>. If anything, I gave them special attention<\/em>. Some correction is private, sure. But that is to protect you, not to isolate you<\/strong><\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You saw some of the other kids just vanish<\/em>. That doesn\u2019t mean the school was trying to destroy their friendships\u2014as best they knew how, they were trying to help<\/strong><\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Correction isn\u2019t separation<\/em>. Shame separates<\/em><\/strong>. I free you from shame. I correct<\/em>. Correction will help you have closer friendships\u2014it won\u2019t remove them<\/em>. Unhealthy friendships will be addressed, but correction does not destroy healthy friendships<\/strong><\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Correction isn\u2019t separation. I am not looking to push you out from the fold. No sheep gets \u201cbaaad grades\u201d and gets shoved out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Your phone rang again. Is it the spam?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(I look)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joshua:<\/em> Humorously enough, I got a response to the spam message at the exact same moment as I got a legitimate work message that will let me get paid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

God:<\/em> Spam will often come at the same time as healthy correction<\/strong><\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That spam will attempt to make my healing process<\/em> into your justification<\/em>. But you were already justified<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Correction isn\u2019t separation. Healthy correction builds connection.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

God: You feel embarrassed. If I correct you, you imagine a little red pen making a little red checkmark beside whatever you said, whatever you thought, whatever you believed, with an associated \u201c-1\u201d, \u201c-2\u201d, or whatever other value deducting points from your total grade. The reality is, in school, that was the method. And it […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-123","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-journal"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/todaygodtaughtme.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/todaygodtaughtme.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/todaygodtaughtme.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/todaygodtaughtme.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/todaygodtaughtme.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=123"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/todaygodtaughtme.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":124,"href":"https:\/\/todaygodtaughtme.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123\/revisions\/124"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/todaygodtaughtme.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=123"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/todaygodtaughtme.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=123"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/todaygodtaughtme.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=123"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}