Direct Answer
God cares about more than one private failing. He also holds Hermas responsible for the people in his own home, and he corrects him so that they can be saved.
Support from the Message
- Hermas falls into despair over an impure thought and asks how he can have repentance and forgiveness from God. - The second woman explains that God is angry about something else: Hermas has "not corrected" his family and has let it become "terribly corrupt." - Tom Kruger sums this up by saying Hermas neglected his own family and has not converted them to the faith. - The correction comes with hope. If his sons "repent with all their heart," their names will be written in the Book of Life with the saints.
Discussion Follow-up
Where might you be focused on your own private failings while missing a responsibility to someone close to you? How can God's correction be a sign of hope?