Congratulations! You’ve made it into the last week of our six-week (or 40-day) spiritual journey. I can’t wait until Friday night @ 7:30 for the Power Encounter service at the East Campus. I’ve intensified my time of prayer and fasting in order to be a really good facilitator of God’s amazing delivering power. Join me in praying for God’s power to deliver His people from all kinds of traps and spiritual attacks this Friday.
In our devotional today, our focus turns to Proverbs chapter nine. What grabbed my attention, and have always grabbed my attention, is verse 8, which reads: “Do not rebuke a mocker or he will hate you; rebuke a wise man and he will love you.”
How do you respond to correction? Our response puts us into one of two categories: a mocker or a wise person. A mocker is one who ridicules what she hears by rejecting it with contempt. Let me ask again: How do you respond to correction? Do you angrily or sharply dismiss the person’s insights or opinions without giving it any thought? Or, do you dismiss it because of how it may have been shared, assuming it was communicated with a little attitude? In either case, that type of dismissal puts us into the category of a mocker.
The Bible does not caveat the style, manner, or form of the rebuke heeded by the wise man. It doesn’t tell us that the person offering the rebuke is attractive, speaks calmly, or smells nicely. It simply says that the wise man’s response to the rebuke—the correction—is to love the person who offered the adjustment. This leads us to conclude that wise people know that correction in any form will only make them a better person—a wiser more knowledge individual. Thus, when it comes, it is viewed from a positive perspective. Conversely, the mocker sees correction as an insult or an attack against their judgment, actions, thinking, choices, etc.
In looking over the past 30 days, how well or poorly did you respond to correction? If you had the chance to relive that last interchange surrounding your correction, in what way would you respond differently? Please post your answer to either question.
Generally, I respond pretty well to correction. My Dad always impressed upon my brothers and I that we should be open to listening to what people have to say, thank the person for caring, and then decide for ourselves whether the information conveyed should be applied to our lives or cast away. He taught that there is wisdom in listening to new information and deciding for ourselves what to do.
ReplyDeleteI use my father's instruction when working with coaching clients. I caution that there are two good responses to feedback ... "Thank You" and "Tell Me More". "Thank You" signals you have all of the information you need to assess your behavior. "Tell Me More" signals you need more information in order to determine if the information being conveyed is applicable to your life/behavior.
This process has worked for me! :-)
Blessing to All!
T.C.
Hello everyone,
ReplyDeleteToday’s read is thought provoking in itself because until now I would have never thought that dismissing an arrogant rebuke placed me in the mocker category. I always appreciate it when brothers and sisters in Christ approach me with good reasoning or even rebuttal ones, at the same time; I test the spirit of the person doing the reprimand. When I have done wrong, God always sends someone to share rebukes; I will accept it and thank the person. At the same time, if I feel that the rebuke is not properly presented, and I know that I have not done wrong; while I will not show instant disapproval, you can rest assured that the Holy Spirit already knows that everything has fallen on death ears. Will I reflect on it later, absolutely, and with all honesty I get remorseful afterward because of the lack of proper response demonstrated at the time. While Solomon is describing the behavior of one who does not accept correction, he further acknowledges in chap. 15 that “a soft answer turns away wrath, and harsh word stirs up anger,” even Apostle Paul also admonished Timothy (2 Tim. 2:25) to correct in humility. As believers we have to be respectful of people no matter what, I always welcome rebukes especially if/when it’s done with good reasoning. At the same time, I will not tolerate disrespectful rebuke in the name of Jesus because Jesus will not like what I will have to tell him later on. Now that I know better, I guess I have to behave, eh! – and I don’t even like to behave; this is a challenge.
Everyone have a great week, be blessed.
wh
Good Morning,
ReplyDeleteMost of the time I think I respond well and I must say my response has improved over time through trial, error and maturity. Sometimes the way we respond is related to our self-esteem, perhaps we feel diminished or disrespected in some sense by the correction because it is not perceived as "help". Recently, I was given correction regarding tardiness. I was late for a ministry engagement due to a family matter. The person correcting me proceeded to give a mini lecture about the effects of tardiness on others. At first I was silent but felt compelled to tell her that I am almost never late because I felt that she made a "blanket" judgement based upon one incident and without knowing all the information. In retrospect I should have let my past and future behavior speak for itself. I agree with Coach TC many times the best response is Thank You for the information or tell me more.
Blessings,
Cyndi
Hello All,
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of correction, my mother just read my post above and corrected my grammar. I should have written "my brothers and me." She wanted me to be certain to make the change. ;-)
Blessings to all!
T.C.
Hi everybody,
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of correction, isn't today day 37, which means we are a day ahead in the Proverbs reading? I was thinking somehow I had gotten behind, but when looking at my Operation Take Back pamphlet, Proverbs 9 is for Day 37, which is today, Tuesday. As for myself, I don't have a problem being corrected. In fact, I prefer someone tell me when I'm wrong, instead of leading me to believe I'm right.