DARE Woman,
One of my greatest joys as a mother is listening to the thoughts of my children.
The other day, my four-year-old son and I were talking about numbers.
For quite some time, he had confidently read 64 as 46.
Every time.
He wasn’t guessing.
He genuinely believed he was right.
I could have corrected him repeatedly, but I chose not to argue. Instead, I gave him space to keep learning.
Something beautiful happened over the weekend when we were in the kitchen together, as we were talking, I saw the realization spread across his face.
He paused.
Looked at the number again on a different note while experiementing with his number blocks kit…….
Then looked at me with wide eyes and exclaimed,
“Mum… I’ve been wrong all along!”
He wasn’t embarrassed.
He wasn’t defensive.
He wasn’t trying to justify why he had been saying it incorrectly.
He simply embraced the truth the moment he saw it.
“Teach me Your way, O Lord, and I will walk in Your truth…”
— Psalm 86:11
“Children are not embarrassed to learn. They celebrate discovery. Spiritual maturity is recovering that same posture before God.”
I found myself wondering…
When was the last time I said those words to God?
“Lord… I’ve been wrong all along.”
Not because I was living in deliberate rebellion.
But because sometimes we sincerely believe something that simply isn’t true.
We can be wrong about ourselves.
Wrong about other people.
Wrong about our calling.
Wrong about our expectations.
Wrong about how God works.
Wrong about what success looks like.
Wrong about what He is trying to teach us in a particular season.
One of the greatest obstacles to growth isn’t ignorance.
It’s certainty.
It’s believing we’ve already got it figured out.
Children have an incredible advantage.
They are still learning.
They expect to be taught.
Somewhere along the journey into adulthood, however, we begin to equate being wrong with being weak.
So instead of welcoming correction:
We defend our position.
We explain.
We justify.
We protect our pride.
Yet Scripture consistently shows us that God teaches the humble.
Not the people who know everything.
The people who remain teachable.
I wonder how many prayers God is waiting to answer—not by changing our circumstances, but by changing our perspective.
Perhaps the breakthrough begins the moment we are willing to say,
“Lord, I’ve been seeing this the wrong way.”
I’ve been interpreting Your silence as rejection.
I’ve been calling fear wisdom.
I’ve been calling control responsibility.
I’ve been calling comfort peace.
I’ve been calling delay denial.
Maybe…
I’ve been wrong all along.
The beautiful thing about my son’s discovery wasn’t that he had been wrong.
It was that the moment he recognized the truth, he changed.
No argument.
No resistance.
No shame.
Just joyful correction.
Isn’t that how God invites us to respond?
Not with condemnation.
But with transformation.
Because every time God corrects us, He isn’t trying to prove us wrong.
He’s inviting us into greater freedom.
Perhaps spiritual maturity isn’t measured by how rarely we are wrong.
Perhaps it is measured by how quickly we embrace truth when God reveals it.
As I reflect on that conversation with my son, I find myself praying for a child’s heart again.
A heart that delights in learning.
A heart that is not threatened by correction.
A heart that celebrates truth more than being right.
Because growth begins the moment pride ends.
And sometimes, the most powerful prayer we can pray is simply this:
“Father… teach me. If I’ve been wrong all along, I want to know.”
Reflection
Is there an area of my life where I have been holding onto an assumption instead of seeking God’s truth?
When God corrects me, is my first response defensiveness or humility?
What belief about myself, others, or God might He be inviting me to revisit?
Am I more committed to being right, or to becoming more like Christ?
Where is God asking me to become teachable again?
Prayer
Father, thank You for loving me enough to correct me. Give me a heart that remains soft, humble, and eager to learn. Remove pride that resists Your truth, and replace it with the courage to admit when I have been wrong. Teach me to value transformation above being right. Help me to receive Your wisdom with the openness of a child and to walk faithfully in the truth You reveal. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Yours in DARE-ing and Becoming,
Nkonye Odozi
