Job's Struggle with Repentance
The Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary defines self-righteousness as one who is “convinced of one's own righteousness especially in contrast with the actions and beliefs of others: narrow-mindedly moralistic.”
Job struggled with self-righteousness. He accused God of treating him unfairly and accusing him falsely of sin. When his friends confronted him, he denied it. Job refused to listen to his friend’s confrontation because he was righteous in his own eyes (Job 32:1).
“What Does the Bible Say About” God’s Model for Discipline notes that there is in art to correction. One can exercise correction in a way that either helps another person to grow or causes them greater harm. Losing one’s patience with someone who needs correction or exploding in anger causes greater destruction.
God’s model for discipline involves having patience with people. As one deals with resistance, the model notes applying “a carefully graduated sequence of consequences that might help the other person understand what is happening and perhaps have a change in heart”.[1]
Luke 6:36-37 (MSG) says, “Live out this God-created identity the way our Father lives toward us, generously and graciously, even when we’re at our worst. Or Father is kind; you be kind. Don’t pick on people, jump on their failures, criticize their faults –unless, of course, you want the same treatment. Don’t condemn those who are down; that hardness can boomerang.”
When someone loses their temper or patience with another, the focus is on self (self love) and the intent is to harm the other because the person feels harmed or threatened. It is about protecting oneself, maintaining control and/or vengeance – a wrong for a wrong.
Godly discipline is focused on the benefit of the other person. It bears being wronged with patience while hoping for the best outcome for the other person (1 Cor. 13:4-7). It does not look to punish or penalize the other person but believes and hopes for the best in them (1 Cor. 13:4-7).
Job’s first three friends were not wise in the way they approached Job on his self-righteousness. They looked to correct Job out of a place of arrogance and feeling threatened by his complaints against God. Rather than helping Job see where He had gone astray, the conversations became more and more hurtful to both Job and his friends. Job’s friends didn’t allow any safe space for Job to explore the possibility that he could be wrong.
As a result, Job dug in his heals deeper in his stance that he was right and they (along with God) were wrong. In Job 27:5-6 he told his friends, “Far be it from me to say that you are right… I hold fast my righteousness and will not let it go.”
When people are harmfully corrected for their sin, the result is often greater willfulness, sin and rebellion. In Job 34:37, Job’s fourth friend noted, “For he adds rebellion to his sin; he claps his ands among us and multiplies his words against God.”
Job’s fourth friend approached Job in humility, confronted him with both patience and truth and created a safe place for Job to repent. Job’s fourth friend spoke the truth to Job and pointed him back towards God. He was not threatened by Job’s accusations against God nor did he feel the need to be defensive or control the situation.
Rather than making insinuations that Job’s circumstance were a direct result of his own wickedness (like Job’s other three friends), Elihu told Job that “God is mighty, and does not despise any; he is mighty in strength and understanding” (Job 36:5). Elihu gave room for Job to examine himself. Elihu helped Job to see God’s majesty and fear Him once again. As a result of Elihu’s correction, Job’s heart was finally open to hear from God and Job repented.
All along the way, there were warning signs to Job of his immediate need to repent, but Job’s heart was not open and correctable. Self-righteousness kept him from seeing what God was speaking to him.
One sign that Job needed to repent was his four friend’s confrontation. While not all of his friends approached Job using a godly model of correction, Job at any point could have heeded their warnings, repented and sought God.
Another sign that Job needed to repent was the bitterness in his heart. In Job 23:2 he says, “Today also my complaint is bitter; my hand is heavy on account of my groaning.” In Psalm 51 as David repented he prayed “let the bones that you have broken rejoice… restore to me the joy of your salvation…” (8, 12). Whenever one has a lack of peace, bitterness or heaviness in their heart (having lost their joy), it is a sign that repentance may be needed.
No longer being able to hear God or see God working was also a sign to Job that he needed to repent. In Job 32:8- 9 he says, “Behold, I go forward, but he is not there, and backward, but I do not perceive him; on the left hand when he is working, I do not behold him; he turns to the right hand, but I do not see him.”
So what can I learn from this?
1. Just because I think I am right with God does not mean I am. If I am experiencing correction from people in my life, have a lack of peace or sense of heaviness, and/or I am not hearing clearly from God, it is a good sign that I am struggling with self-righteousness and need to take an inventory of my heart and my actions.
2. There are two ways to correct someone: One causes the other person to grow and the other causes the person harm. It may feel much more comfortable to be in an environment where one is never corrected but then one also fails to grow.
I used to frequently avoid correcting other people. While I have become better at it, I still sometimes struggle and can be hesitant at times. I have a tendency to initially see correction as negative rather than a benefit to the other person. I had to learn that correction can be positive and beneficial to others. My staff taught me this some years ago. I had a 360 review and while my staff gave me some wonderful feedback, it was very clear from all of them that they wanted me to speak the truth to them, providing clear correction when they needed it. They felt I beat around the bush and tried to hard to soften critical feedback.
Proverbs 3:11-12 says, “My son, do not despise the Lord’s discipline and do not resent His rebuke, because the LORD disciplines those he loves, as a father the son he delights in.” Because my own past experiences with correction were harmful, I can initially respond to correction through a negative lens. When I am corrected, I struggle with assuming that someone’s motives for correcting me must be harmful rather than to benefit me. Because of this, my initial reaction to correction becomes defensive. I don’t feel safe to repent but instead feel threatened, crushed and can become willful and angry.
3. One needs to be grateful for the Elihu’s God places in their life. These are the people who, in humility, are willing to confront us when we are wrong while at the same time pointing us to God and creating a safe place for us to repent and grow. Elihu’s help us to see things more clearly from God’s perspective and genuinely have our best interests at heart rather than looking to cause us harm.
4. I just recently struggled with a need to repent. I did not see my need to repent and was not immediately correctable or teachable. Self righteousness and defensiveness kept me at first from seeing the truth. I had all the signs that I needed to repent but told God that I did no wrong and it was all a misunderstanding. Rather than asking God to help me to see and accept responsibility, I expected Him to come to my rescue and defend me.
My past experiences with correction triggered in me immediate defensiveness. I expected harmful consequences and felt threatened. My spirit was crushed within me. Rather than being open to take responsibility for wronging anyone, I closed down and wanted to run.
It was the Elihu’s in my life that helped me to see the truth and pointed me back towards God. I realized that they did not seek to harm me but had my best interests at heart. When I realized this, I no longer felt threatened and judged. I then felt safe to come to terms with the fact that I sinned, take responsiblity and repent.
[1]Thomas Nelson Publishers: What Does the Bible Say About-- : The Ultimate A to Z Resource Fully Illustrated. Nashville, Tenn. : Thomas Nelson, 2001 (Nelson's A to Z Series), S. 111
Job struggled with self-righteousness. He accused God of treating him unfairly and accusing him falsely of sin. When his friends confronted him, he denied it. Job refused to listen to his friend’s confrontation because he was righteous in his own eyes (Job 32:1).
“What Does the Bible Say About” God’s Model for Discipline notes that there is in art to correction. One can exercise correction in a way that either helps another person to grow or causes them greater harm. Losing one’s patience with someone who needs correction or exploding in anger causes greater destruction.
God’s model for discipline involves having patience with people. As one deals with resistance, the model notes applying “a carefully graduated sequence of consequences that might help the other person understand what is happening and perhaps have a change in heart”.[1]
Luke 6:36-37 (MSG) says, “Live out this God-created identity the way our Father lives toward us, generously and graciously, even when we’re at our worst. Or Father is kind; you be kind. Don’t pick on people, jump on their failures, criticize their faults –unless, of course, you want the same treatment. Don’t condemn those who are down; that hardness can boomerang.”
When someone loses their temper or patience with another, the focus is on self (self love) and the intent is to harm the other because the person feels harmed or threatened. It is about protecting oneself, maintaining control and/or vengeance – a wrong for a wrong.
Godly discipline is focused on the benefit of the other person. It bears being wronged with patience while hoping for the best outcome for the other person (1 Cor. 13:4-7). It does not look to punish or penalize the other person but believes and hopes for the best in them (1 Cor. 13:4-7).
Job’s first three friends were not wise in the way they approached Job on his self-righteousness. They looked to correct Job out of a place of arrogance and feeling threatened by his complaints against God. Rather than helping Job see where He had gone astray, the conversations became more and more hurtful to both Job and his friends. Job’s friends didn’t allow any safe space for Job to explore the possibility that he could be wrong.
As a result, Job dug in his heals deeper in his stance that he was right and they (along with God) were wrong. In Job 27:5-6 he told his friends, “Far be it from me to say that you are right… I hold fast my righteousness and will not let it go.”
When people are harmfully corrected for their sin, the result is often greater willfulness, sin and rebellion. In Job 34:37, Job’s fourth friend noted, “For he adds rebellion to his sin; he claps his ands among us and multiplies his words against God.”
Job’s fourth friend approached Job in humility, confronted him with both patience and truth and created a safe place for Job to repent. Job’s fourth friend spoke the truth to Job and pointed him back towards God. He was not threatened by Job’s accusations against God nor did he feel the need to be defensive or control the situation.
Rather than making insinuations that Job’s circumstance were a direct result of his own wickedness (like Job’s other three friends), Elihu told Job that “God is mighty, and does not despise any; he is mighty in strength and understanding” (Job 36:5). Elihu gave room for Job to examine himself. Elihu helped Job to see God’s majesty and fear Him once again. As a result of Elihu’s correction, Job’s heart was finally open to hear from God and Job repented.
All along the way, there were warning signs to Job of his immediate need to repent, but Job’s heart was not open and correctable. Self-righteousness kept him from seeing what God was speaking to him.
One sign that Job needed to repent was his four friend’s confrontation. While not all of his friends approached Job using a godly model of correction, Job at any point could have heeded their warnings, repented and sought God.
Another sign that Job needed to repent was the bitterness in his heart. In Job 23:2 he says, “Today also my complaint is bitter; my hand is heavy on account of my groaning.” In Psalm 51 as David repented he prayed “let the bones that you have broken rejoice… restore to me the joy of your salvation…” (8, 12). Whenever one has a lack of peace, bitterness or heaviness in their heart (having lost their joy), it is a sign that repentance may be needed.
No longer being able to hear God or see God working was also a sign to Job that he needed to repent. In Job 32:8- 9 he says, “Behold, I go forward, but he is not there, and backward, but I do not perceive him; on the left hand when he is working, I do not behold him; he turns to the right hand, but I do not see him.”
So what can I learn from this?
1. Just because I think I am right with God does not mean I am. If I am experiencing correction from people in my life, have a lack of peace or sense of heaviness, and/or I am not hearing clearly from God, it is a good sign that I am struggling with self-righteousness and need to take an inventory of my heart and my actions.
2. There are two ways to correct someone: One causes the other person to grow and the other causes the person harm. It may feel much more comfortable to be in an environment where one is never corrected but then one also fails to grow.
I used to frequently avoid correcting other people. While I have become better at it, I still sometimes struggle and can be hesitant at times. I have a tendency to initially see correction as negative rather than a benefit to the other person. I had to learn that correction can be positive and beneficial to others. My staff taught me this some years ago. I had a 360 review and while my staff gave me some wonderful feedback, it was very clear from all of them that they wanted me to speak the truth to them, providing clear correction when they needed it. They felt I beat around the bush and tried to hard to soften critical feedback.
Proverbs 3:11-12 says, “My son, do not despise the Lord’s discipline and do not resent His rebuke, because the LORD disciplines those he loves, as a father the son he delights in.” Because my own past experiences with correction were harmful, I can initially respond to correction through a negative lens. When I am corrected, I struggle with assuming that someone’s motives for correcting me must be harmful rather than to benefit me. Because of this, my initial reaction to correction becomes defensive. I don’t feel safe to repent but instead feel threatened, crushed and can become willful and angry.
3. One needs to be grateful for the Elihu’s God places in their life. These are the people who, in humility, are willing to confront us when we are wrong while at the same time pointing us to God and creating a safe place for us to repent and grow. Elihu’s help us to see things more clearly from God’s perspective and genuinely have our best interests at heart rather than looking to cause us harm.
4. I just recently struggled with a need to repent. I did not see my need to repent and was not immediately correctable or teachable. Self righteousness and defensiveness kept me at first from seeing the truth. I had all the signs that I needed to repent but told God that I did no wrong and it was all a misunderstanding. Rather than asking God to help me to see and accept responsibility, I expected Him to come to my rescue and defend me.
My past experiences with correction triggered in me immediate defensiveness. I expected harmful consequences and felt threatened. My spirit was crushed within me. Rather than being open to take responsibility for wronging anyone, I closed down and wanted to run.
It was the Elihu’s in my life that helped me to see the truth and pointed me back towards God. I realized that they did not seek to harm me but had my best interests at heart. When I realized this, I no longer felt threatened and judged. I then felt safe to come to terms with the fact that I sinned, take responsiblity and repent.
[1]Thomas Nelson Publishers: What Does the Bible Say About-- : The Ultimate A to Z Resource Fully Illustrated. Nashville, Tenn. : Thomas Nelson, 2001 (Nelson's A to Z Series), S. 111
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