Daily Bible Challenge: Day 637 Proverbs Chapter 9

Verses 7 and 8 are the key verses that stuck out to me.

It says if you correct a mocker, then get ready for insult and hatredness in return. If you rebuke a wicked person, then get ready for abuse.

I have a flashback to the rioters in Seattle, Minneapolis and other cities who were destructive. You can't sit down and have a calm conversation when someone is in the heat of the moment. If you approach a hostile person and correct them, confront, or rebuke, then get ready for a battle.

This goes for any person who is focused on their own agenda or focused on their self self self. They don't want to hear what anyone else has to say.

In reality, I don't enjoy rebuke. I don't become hateful and I don't abuse the giver of the rebuke, but it still hurts my ego. I like to think my ways are always good. Sometimes I'm rebuked because of evil in my heart. Sometimes I'm rebuked because of a misunderstanding. Sometimes I rebuked when I have the greatest intention with a very loving heart, but the person assumed my intentions were evil.

Verse 8 says a wise person who is rebuked will love you. This is not easy and takes maturity.

The truth is, we all face rebuke (from our spouse, from a friend, from an enemy, from a stranger, from the Lord).

1. We can respond as a fool and let it result into a battle, or

2. We can respond as a wise person who:

A. Withholds their words.

B. Who stays calm.

C. Who evaluates the rebuke.

D. Who gleans from it anything that can help them become a wiser and better person.

E. Who responds calmly being willing to work out misunderstandings. Or are mature enough to show appreciation because there were aspects of the rebuke that you needed to hear to make you a wiser and better person. Lastly, are mature enough to say, “I'm sorry!”

I hate to say this, but this is hard but I can honestly say, rebuke or discipline is the best technique for getting me on the right path with the Lord. I WELCOME it, I just DON'T LIKE it.

Get what I mean?