Being a prophet was never an easy job as it was their task to relay God’s unpleasant messages and warnings. Sometimes the message was good but more often it was to convey God’s loving judgment. Jeremiah had the job of telling unpleasant warnings from God to the People of Judah and His messages were seldom good. No wonder he was known as the Prophet of Doom
What an unpleasant responsibility is it if we are called upon by God to deliver stern messages of correction. It may be that we are the person, the only person to point out errors in a person’s life. It is such a position of responsibility that it must be proceeded by plenty of prayer. However, planks and splinters come to mind. We need to make sure that it is actually a message from God and not a matter of us wanting to get our own way. Any correction must be delivered in deep love. The receiver will be hurt, our love for them needs to be abounding. We need to ask ourselves whether we too are guilty of this fault. Prayer for the person and with the person will be a gift from God.
I must admit that God has never asked me to correct another person, as a coward I pray that any correction may be done by God through my prayers. I don’t want to a Jeremiah!