Usually it’s a fairly nice feature.  You happen to misspell a word in a text and your phone takes it upon itself to right (write!) your wrong.  This can save you from embarrassing yourself.

Then again, your phone can auto-correct your words and embarrass you even more!

Here’s one example I found online: 

Texter one (the father):  “Your mom and I are going to divorce next month.”

Texter two (a grown child):  “What???  Why?  Call me, please!”

Texter one (the father):  “I wrote Disney and this phone changed it.  We are going to Disney.”

That was a tame example.  There were many more where auto-correct provided an outlandish, preposterous, inappropriate and/or even offensive reply.  Highly embarrassing indeed!

I’m fairly confident that, unless you are extremely careful and take the time to painstakingly reread your texts before sending, you have sent messages with messages you didn’t mean to send! 

And the mess-ups weren’t mess-up of your own doing; they were inserted into your texts by “auto-correct.”  Which was actually an “auto-INcorrect.”

It’s nothing personal.  It’s simply Artificial Intelligence demonstrating a remarkable LACK of intelligence.  It thinks it knows best … but it doesn’t always.

Have you ever considered that we are surrounded by a culture that is constantly attempting to “auto-correct” our beliefs, morals and actions?  Sometimes the pressure is subtle; often it is blatant.  Always it is present.

Yes, it is perhaps especially impactful to our teenagers and college students.  And especially those on secular campuses. 

But make no mistake about it – it impacts all of us!  We clash with “auto-correct” through our coworkers, our neighbors, our friends … even our family members sometimes.

Furthermore, it impacts virtually every aspect of our lives!  If you doubt this, you are either blissfully naïve or ensconced in denial.

Society’s “auto-correct” list is literally endless.  Sexual propriety and acceptable speech are just two obvious examples of moral issues that society’s “auto-correct” attempts to define.  There are many more.

“Auto-correct” is extremely influential in promoting what our peers deem to be “significant values” and “proper priorities.”  These are often radically different than what our Lord tells us.

Then there is the matter of absolute truth and where (and whether!) it can truly be found.  The common consensus is that truth is subjective (up to each individual) – not objective (non-negotiable).  Scripture presents a totally different perspective.

Think about it just a little and it’s clear; we are bombarded by “auto-correct” in our lives.  Even more so than in our documents and texts!  Sadly, the world’s “auto-correct” is actually usually “auto-INcorrect.”

The Apostle Paul’s words are as every bit as significant today as they were 2,000 years ago.  They are words we would do well to take to heart.

“Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.  Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.  Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. (Romans 12:1-2).

When the Holy Spirit is transforming us through God’s Word, and renewing our hearts and minds through God’s truth … well, that is the perfect “auto-correct!”  It’s a correction that we can be confident is actually and absolutely correct!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Matthew 5:13-16 (the words of Jesus)
“You are the salt of the earth.  But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again?  It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.”

“You are the light of the world.  A town built on a hill cannot be hidden.  Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl.  Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.  In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”