"He that refuseth instruction despiseth his own soul: but he that heareth reproof getteth understanding.
The fear of the Lord is the instruction of wisdom; and before honour is humility."
Proverbs 15:32-33
This is some good advice about being open to instruction and correction, and the respect and humility that it takes to get to where we want to be.
Probably all of us would like to be instantly wise and instantly respected by others, but we are taught here that there are prerequisites to that. :) If we really want our souls to prosper, we have to learn. If we want to understand, then we have to be willing to listen and correct our path. If we want wisdom, we need to respect God and do as he asks, and if we want honor, we must learn humility.
Although we frequently desire otherwise, there is no shortcut. If we try to jump past the lessons, all we are doing is jumping back to the "despiseth his own soul" step, and refusing the Lord's instruction. It's this way with lots of other things. I don't especially enjoy learning patience, but it is also a prerequisite to other things, so something I need to learn. And it's good for us to remember that humility goes before honor, because we often want to step up to the front of the line before we're ready to be there.
Today, let's remember to put humility first, to accept correction, and to respect and listen to God's instructions. As we learn to put those things first, then so many things that we want will come to us in the good time of the Lord.
The fear of the Lord is the instruction of wisdom; and before honour is humility."
Proverbs 15:32-33
This is some good advice about being open to instruction and correction, and the respect and humility that it takes to get to where we want to be.
Probably all of us would like to be instantly wise and instantly respected by others, but we are taught here that there are prerequisites to that. :) If we really want our souls to prosper, we have to learn. If we want to understand, then we have to be willing to listen and correct our path. If we want wisdom, we need to respect God and do as he asks, and if we want honor, we must learn humility.
Although we frequently desire otherwise, there is no shortcut. If we try to jump past the lessons, all we are doing is jumping back to the "despiseth his own soul" step, and refusing the Lord's instruction. It's this way with lots of other things. I don't especially enjoy learning patience, but it is also a prerequisite to other things, so something I need to learn. And it's good for us to remember that humility goes before honor, because we often want to step up to the front of the line before we're ready to be there.
Today, let's remember to put humility first, to accept correction, and to respect and listen to God's instructions. As we learn to put those things first, then so many things that we want will come to us in the good time of the Lord.
If you’ve ever had an older sibling or friend, perhaps you’ve had the experience of them forcing your own hand to hit yourself. The gag is, to then say, “Stop hitting yourself… Stop hitting yourself…” over and over as you do, indeed, hit yourself. It’s frustrating to the extreme to experience, as most people don’t make it a habit to go around hitting themselves.
ReplyDeleteIn the same way our proverb for today tells us that ignoring instruction is to despise yourself. We can almost imagine the devil tempting us in to some foolish behavior and mocking us as well… “stop hitting yourself, stop hitting yourself” as he uses our own stubborn reluctance to listen to reason to bring continued calamity into our lives.
Good analogy. :)
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