Acting Wisely

Proverbs 12:1

“Whoso loveth instruction loveth knowledge: but he that hateth reproof is brutish” (KJV)

How many of us love to learn and become wiser? When I read over this verse, the beginning seemed pretty self explanatory. If you love instruction, then you love knowledge. But so many of us instead love knowledge and are critical of instruction. When I was going to college, many of my fellow classmates would disagreed with the professor’s way of teaching and, in turn, take the course more for the credit than for the knowledge. See, if we want to truly love the knowledge, then we need to love being instructed and open, regardless of the instructor. As a Christian, I am in pursuit of Christ and am trying to imitate whatever He does with my life, but I don’t always get it right. I have made many mistakes; so many that I don’t even know about all of them. This is why Christ encourages us to disciple one another with love. I, because I love the knowledge of God, need to love receiving instruction from others that Christ uses to correct me. The second half of this verse says “but he that hateth reproof is brutish”. If I hate reproof, or correction and rebuke, than I am committing a brutish act, or an act that is stupid and carnal.

I have been guilty of committing sins against a brother in Christ more times than I would like to admit and many times I have hated the rebuke and have just casted the rebuke aside. I am going to work on acting wisely and not carnally when accepting rebuke next time by praying to God in thanks and praise after I have been rebuked.