The point of correction is to restore. When we are dealing with a fellow brother or sister in the Lord, the goal is not to punish the person by stealing away what could be in the Lord for their lives but to present what should be, by the example of a lifestyle of dignity and respect.

It is of utmost importance to glorify truth in the person and not glorify the enemy, our devil, with attention and the identity of the transgression committed, which is a glorification of anti-Christ spirit.

This anti-Christ spirit, in whatever form it may take, wants to prove, at the least to itself, that it is God. If it truly could, it would infect the whole creation. It is the ultimate in pride and self justified righteousness.

Truth will always stand the test of time. Truth in actuality will withstand its place in all eternity! Love, mercy, grace, longsuffering, all the fruit of the Spirit will be the markers of the Eternal Holy Spirit.

When sin is exposed, righteousness should come in like a flood. What is right should be glorified as good. What needs to be healed should be plainly and obviously explained. It is the will of God for ALL to be restored. Any wrong committed to another should be ministered to and upheld as healing. This is the example of the Church of Jesus Christ Eternal - which is not a denomination but a definition.

To ignore the sin or the wounding effect can give place to it. It can even develop into a stronghold in the accusing person's life by simply ignoring its unlawful place and even generationally be passed down. In corporate situations, it can affect many others who are innocent. Healing should not be glorified as an isolated truth, but as a restoration for all truth through the work of Jesus Christ on the Cross and the Father's great Love.

It is important for us to say NO to the devil and YES to JESUS and His will and His ways.

When children are small, they are developing and we often help them in their decisions of right and wrong for their good. Punishments in the form of non-harming discipline are used to get their attention. Time outs for example are for the child to consider and meditate on their transgression and the resulting limitations it has imposed.

Some might gently slap away (without harming) a little hand from going toward a hot stove to reinforce a right versus a wrong decision. As they mature, they will come to understand the spoken word of discipline, and the childish ways of enforcing discipline would be replaced with the greater and more mature form.

The lust of things is in all of us. It's just a matter of our being able to conquer those lusts for the higher and more invigorating fruitful and abundant life by the power of the Holy Spirit.

A friend told me one time of a lesson he had learned through another one of his friends. He said they were walking downtown and saw a drunk man laying in the gutter on skid row, as sadly so many often do.

He asked my friend, "What is the purpose of that man's life?" My friend replied, "It looks like absolutely nothing! He seems to be going downhill fast." His friend replied, "No, you are wrong. That man is there to tell you what not to do."

It could be to not take that first step in a wrong direction, or to take a drug, or to not make wrong business or family decisions, or to do something that would make wrong choices for your life.

If you were to interview a those skidrow people, you would find some amazing and heartwrenching stories. Some have been professionals in the marketplace. Is that God's best will for their life? No, of course not, but they are examples of what should be better.

But while still on this earth, they have a message - and the kind will of God has been to call many into doing street ministry and many found restoration through that. They did that by focusing on what was right and good instead of what was wrong and destructive to them. They gave them a positive replacement view in the area of their weakness.

The Apostle John writes: "I have written to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the wicked one."

I John 2:13-17 (NKJ)

I write to you, fathers, because you have known Him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you have overcome the wicked one. I write to you, little children, because you have known the Father. I have written to you, fathers, because you have known Him who is from the beginning. I have written to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the wicked one. Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world-- the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life-- is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.

By the time we are "young men in the Lord" we should be strong and have many of the right tools to navigate life. As Christians, we should do that as a lifestyle helping others who may have missed that opportunity. We have also learned that we can make decisions to overcome evil, not just for ourselves but also for others, and then we become "fathers."

When someone is caught in a trangression, what should be right should be plainly identified. If it is something that must go public, especially in the Church, the way of Love should be strongly expressed. The Spirit of Love will convict and shame the transgressor more than any of the negative identities and punishments of men, if that person is a believer. It can even expose some of the fuller extent of the sin that more can be healed.

But all correction should be done with true restoration in mind. It is the devil who comes to accuse, steal, kill and destroy. When we do the same things we have joined his team.

To deny a transgression is also wrong. But if your goal is the same as our Lord's, then true repentance with a lifestyle expression of what is right is what you seek. By doing it this way, the strongholds of the enemy can be exposed and identified and most often healed.

As much as we can love a fight because of the energy and adrenaline, the goal of God is to establish righteousness, and when this is denied, often the lives of others is also denied and a blood guiltiness can be on your hands from the offenses of others. True maturity sees others and not just its own cozy world.

We don't want to steal what could be or should be, we want to glorify Life in Christ. And His Life is an abundant Life. It's a force, a river, that flows from our innermost beings into channels of productivity and discoveries of all that God has in store for us.

Every life is precious and Heaven will indeed someday touch Earth. All that has gone before will meet us there. We must prepare ourselves to embrace that. Death is not a trash can. But there is an eternal lake of fire for the souls who turn away from God and His Life giving truths.