Proverbs 12 (Kent)
Who out there loves to be disciplined; corrected?
"Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but he who hates correction is stupid." Proverbs 12:1 (NIV)
When I read this I felt so.....well , you know.....stupid. However, in my case at least this was not a setback. This could perhaps be described as a hard saying. It goes against our nature. Our fleshly nature. Perhaps how it grates on our spiritual nature could be used as a barometer of how our walk is progressing with Jesus.
This verse and 12:15 "....a wise man listens to advice." can easily be linked. Wisdom of course is highly touted in the Proverbs as something precious to seek. Accepting, even embracing discipline demonstrates the wisdom and maturity to acknowledge a mistake or lack of knowledge. Takes humility. Sorry but I am not qualified to comment on that.
So the most important knowledge is that we realize we don't know everything and we do make mistakes, even sin. Also we know God corrects us because we are his children and he loves us. Even though the correction is usually of the indirect nature and may come from a source not so easy to listen to, if our heart is seeking the truth, we will benefit.
12:23 "A prudent man keeps his knowledge to himself..." provides a different perspective of interest. On the far side of knowledge issues we also know there is the danger of becoming "puffed up" by too much of it. If any out there feel they may have succumbed to this pitfall, again I am unqualified to counsel in this area. Well duh! Try watching "Are you smarter than a fifth grader" or whatever they call it or if you actually are smarter than a fifth grader, a special edition of Trivial Pursuit. Guaranteed to bring you back to reality.
Have a great week!
Kent
1 comment:
As usually. your wonderful sense of humor flows through your writing.
Well done..
Love you,
Jeannie
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