Conviction is a kindness. Discipline a show of love. We are reluctant to accept these truths and understand them when the blinders of self-righteousness and temptation are in full effect.
We walk in the fog of pride and the darkness of sin, not seeing the hurts we sustain and the wounds we deliver. The mercies of God call to us. They beckon us to receive healing, deliverance, and walk again in His empowering and keeping light and will.
Proverbs 6:23-24 ”For the commandment is a lamp and the teaching a light, and the reproofs of discipline are the way of life, to preserve you from the evil woman, from the smooth tongue of the adulteress.”
The temptation will talk and speak some pretty enticing words and lead to some pretty dark places, but God will never leave you. God’s Spirit is there in you to correct you, preserve you, and deliver you from the depravity and sickness of this world.
Proverbs 3:11-12 “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.”
God loves you and wants the best for you, and His correction is there to lead you to good (Jas 1:12, 1 Cor 2:9, Rom 8:28) and better (Ps 37:16) (Prv 15:16): excellent rewards, a worthy future, better ways of thinking, better ways of interacting, better ways of being. See and receive His kindness and love. Repent when He lets you know you are walking, looking, or thinking in the wrong direction.