Walk of Life – Day 1 – July 2021 – Thoughts from the Book of Proverbs – Be Diligent
Proverbs 1:23 Turn you at my reproof: behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto you.
Be diligent to accept reproof
In today’s world, these are very weird words. The common notion is I am right, I know what I am doing, the minute someone corrects you, you become very defensive. A whole list of justifications flow out, you ensure that you convince the other person that you were perfectly right even if heart of hearts you know you were wrong. It comes very naturally doesn’t it? We have become hard-hearted and head strong, nothing that we do seems off, I am always right and you are always wrong!…one of the main reasons that we have so many broken homes and broken relationships today.
In the story of David and Bathsheba, David committed a very grave sin, something I even dread to speak about. However the minute Nathan completed that story he repented and said let me fall into the hands of God. Though David lost much that day, he did not lose his instinct to accept reproof and correction. Think of Ananias and Sapphira on the other hand. They knew they were wrong, but both husband and wife discussed and decided to lie…if the wife at least had decided that she would tell the truth, her life may have been spared but that was not the case.
There are so many stories in the Bible of those who accepted correction and moved on and those who despised correction and were doomed for life. Remember when someone corrects you, it is an act of love. Someone cares so much for you that they take the trouble to tell you that something was wrong in the way you behaved or what you said. By doing that they are risking being misunderstood by you but because they want you to be in the right path they are correcting you.
Note that to the person who embraces rebuke, God says, “I will pour out my spirit to you” (Proverbs 1:23), but to the one who despises it, “I will laugh at your calamity” (Proverbs 1:25–26). It will be said of those who reject correction, “They shall eat the fruit of their way, and have their fill of their own devices” (Proverbs 1:30–31), and it’s only a matter of time until they themselves will say, “I am at the brink of utter ruin” (Proverbs 5:12–14).
And when ruin comes for the fool who resists reproof, it will be sudden and devastating: “He who is often reproved, yet stiffens his neck, will suddenly be broken beyond healing” (Proverbs 29:1).
A lot of people do not correct or say anything just for the fear that you may get upset or offended. However, those who truly love you will go that extra mile and correct and as God’s child, gracefully accept correction, be it from the Lord or from your fellow believer, your spouse, or your parents. Be grateful for such people.
Be diligent in accepting correction. The Lord refines us as gold is refined. The Lord subjects us to the potter’s wheel. The whirling and spinning is not very comfortable, instead it is very painful. But accept it because He is still working on you. He has not given up on you. There is still hope. He is molding a beautiful vessel fit for the master’s use. Be humble, we are all human, we make mistakes but a person’s greatness lies in correcting those mistakes and moving on than covering them up and making the same mistakes over and over again.
