The Need For Correction
As we
begin Proverbs 12, we have a wonderful verse.
“Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge; but he who hates reproof is
stupid.” Upon reading this, my mind went
back to an educational theory that was popular several decades ago. Fortunately, it came into popularity just
after I was in elementary school so I was not taught under its influence. But it went something like this:
We don’t
want to damage a child’s self-esteem. So
when they spell “dog” by saying “c-a-t” we don’t want to tell them they are
wrong. Rather, we want to compliment
them on their ability to try and then slowly show them how “d-o-g” might be a
better way to spell “dog” than “c-a-t.”
Anyone
else remember when the days of that educational theory were popular? {To
some extent it still is with the “No child left behind” – or should I say, “No
Teacher Left Standing” – stuff.}
Proverbs
12:1 really tells us just how stupid that educational approach is. He who hates reproof is stupid. He who thinks a child can be raised without
telling them that they are wrong is just flat out dumb. Anyone who thinks that they can become a
productive member of society without having a healthy understanding of when you
have crossed the line is really just setting themselves up for trouble with the
law. One of the fundamental elements of
society is not only understanding right from wrong but also being able to teach
right from wrong. Properly administered
disciplinary tactics are always a good thing.
Poorly administered self-esteem tactics are always bad. For more thought, see Proverbs 12:15.
Family Life
Proverbs
12:4 is another one of my personal favorite proverbs – one that I think I can
honestly learn to put into practice better.
“An excellent wife if the crown of her husband.” I have an excellent wife. She loves me.
She isn’t out in the community doing things she shouldn’t be doing. She is diligent about working with me to make
sure we spend quality time together. We
work together with managing our finances.
She shares the duties of cooking and cleaning with me. She comes to worship God with me every
week. She loves God.
Yes, I
have a crown for a wife. But do I always
see her that way? Do I always look at my
life as though she is the best thing to happen to me since Jesus died on the
cross? Or do I sometimes long for those
moments of being alone? Or do I
sometimes undervalue her efforts? An
excellent wife is indeed the crown of her husband. But that doesn’t always mean that this
husband sees the value in wearing such a quality crown. I can do better in this regard than I already
do.
Station In Life
Proverbs
12:9 also tells us an interesting tale.
“Better to be lowly and have a servant than to play the great man and
lack bread. Actually, as I think about
it there are two lessons here. The first
lesson is to be honest with who we are. Notice
that the author contrasts the verbs “to be” and “to play” in each half of the
proverb. It is always better to be in touch
with who we are than to try and play a role that is not real.
I also
think that there is a lesson here about living within our means, too. How many times do we see people who come into
money turn around and only a short time later file for bankruptcy? What good does having a grand house and
wonderful clothes do a person if they cannot put bread on the table? What good does it do to drive around in a
fancy car and belong to a prestigious country club if we struggle to pay our
bills every month?
The Path To Life
I’m going
to close this reflection with a no-brainer.
But it is a no-brainer that is repeated over and over in the proverbs so
it makes sense for us to also repeat it over and over as well. The last verse of this chapter says that the
path of righteousness is life. There is
no death in it. Jesus demonstrated that
fact to us. Jesus lived. He was killed. But death could not hold Him. The same will be true for all those who live
according to righteousness. Nothing in
this world is worth sacrificing that truth.
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