Kingdom Living is learning to receive rebuke
Kingdom Living is learning to receive rebuke
How do you test someone to see if they are wise?
The best test is to rebuke them. How they respond will determine if they are wise.
Let a righteous man strike me—it is a kindness; let him rebuke me—it is oil on my head. My head will not refuse it. Yet my prayer is ever against the deeds of evildoers; Psalm 14:5
How do you respond to rebuke? Is it kindness like oil on your head?
Dr. C. Matthew McMahon writes that sin has ruined the human race in many ways. One of those ways is man’s utter hatred of being rebuked for his sin. Men should be conformed to the image of God, which is perfectly free from sin, and completely pure. But men loved darkness instead of the light of the Lord. They do not want to be rebuked for their sin, and would rather love darkness, wallowing in it, than to turn and repent. Ecclesiastes 7:5 says, “It is better to hear the rebuke of the wise than for a man to hear the song of fools.” The song of fools is much more appealing to a sin-infested mind than the rebuke of the wise. The reason for this is quite simple – sin embeds itself as the standard in opposition to everything that is righteous. The rebuke is that which restores sin (or rather the sinner) back to righteousness. So it is very plain to see why sinful men hate to be rebuked: sinful men love sin and do not want to become righteous. The rebuke, then, is scathing and loathsome to their sinful nature. In this way, the deteriorating human psyche is always opposed to righteousness, and will always love sin rather than righteousness because man’s deeds are evil.
You are becoming wise when you are able to receive rebuke and love the person bringing the rebuke.
Reproof brings wisdom.
Prov 17:10 Rebuke is more effective for a wise man Than a hundred blows on a fool.
Prov 15:12 A scoffer does not love one who corrects him, Nor will he go to the wise.
They could get help from the wise and become better and free from their troubles but they won’t go to them; they avoid any meaningful talk with them because they think it may hurt to get help and humble their pride. Here is where the pain comes from, when we resist the reproof, instead of seeing it as a gift from God and a token of love and care from another.
Ask yourself, do I choose to feel hurt when I am reproved or rebuked? Does my ego rise and feel bruised, or do I favor the ones who give it to me and thank God for His fatherly discipline for sending them, so I can be more holy, happy and pleasing to Him?
Copyright © 2021 Glenn Repple ALL RIGHTS RESERVED