In Christ, Mark
The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
Whoever heeds discipline shows the way to life, but whoever ignores correction leads others astray.
Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but whoever hates correction is stupid.
Whoever disregards discipline comes to poverty and shame, but whoever heeds correction is honored.
Stern discipline awaits anyone who leaves the path; the one who hates correction will die.
Mockers resent correction, so they avoid the wise.
Whoever heeds life-giving correction will be at home among the wise.
Those who disregard discipline despise themselves, but the one who heeds correction gains understanding.
Listen to advice and accept discipline, and at the end you will be counted among the wise.
Proverbs 10:17, 12:1, 13:18, 15:10, 15:12, 15:31-32, 19:20
This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
NOTE: From Proverbs, Chapter 10 through Chapter 22:16, Solomon writes a series of individual proverbs for us to consider. I will try and group similar proverbs in my devotions as I cover what Solomon wrote over these chapters.
NOTE 2: Today, my oldest daughter Stephanie is premiering her own blog titled, “Live By Philippians 4:13”. Her first post is “Lighting the Way” and I invite you to check it out and leave her encouragement as she answers the call of the Lord on her heart and follows in Dad’s footsteps which is indescribably exciting for me. Here’s the link: http://livebyphillipians413.blogspot.com/
I vividly remember growing up and making more than my share of mistakes. What made the memories so vivid weren’t necessarily the mistakes themselves but rather the correction that followed.
You see, my parents were strict disciplinarians. They were not willing to let me get out of the box and so when I tried to stretch the boundaries, they were always there and ready to rein me back in through disciplinary action. And of course, that wasn’t pleasant, so much so that I learned to despise correction when I was in my youth. Maybe you can relate.
Perhaps that is where our adult attitudes come from when it comes to this matter. For it seems that once we grow out of our childhood, we adopt a belief that we are now beyond anyone’s correction, a belief that cries out:
“I can do what I want to do and no one has the right to tell me what I can and can’t do.”
It’s this belief that only gets us in trouble in life. For receiving correction and discipline is a process that endures as long as we exist here as sinners. We are imperfect people in an imperfect world who are under the purview of a perfect Father and Creator.
Yes, you read that right, lest we forget it. We have a Father in heaven, capital “F”, and no matter what age we are in life, we are under His rules and His ways and the expectation that we conform to them in obedience. When we try and stretch the boundaries, He is there to rein us back in with discipline and correction. In reality, we never escape this, no matter what attitude we want to adopt.
Frankly, we should rejoice that our Lord and Father corrects us and we should never turn from accepting it whenever He sends it. For the Lord doesn’t discipline us on a whim, just because He can and wants to mess with us out of some sense of twisted satisfaction. No, the Lord disciplines us because He wants us to be the kind of people He created us to be, people of righteousness and holiness and love, people who turn from sin and unbelief to virtuous, sanctified living.
Solomon, the wise king who was infused with the wisdom of God, wrote the following proverbs on the matter of discipline and correction. Take another look at them now:
Whoever heeds discipline shows the way to life, but whoever ignores correction leads others astray. Proverbs 10:17
Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but whoever hates correction is stupid. Proverbs 12:1
Whoever disregards discipline comes to poverty and shame, but whoever heeds correction is honored. Proverbs 13:18
Stern discipline awaits anyone who leaves the path; the one who hates correction will die. Proverbs 15:10
Mockers resent correction, so they avoid the wise. Proverbs 15:12
Whoever heeds life-giving correction will be at home among the wise. Those who disregard discipline despise themselves, but the one who heeds correction gains understanding. Proverbs 15:31-32
Listen to advice and accept discipline, and at the end you will be counted among the wise. Proverbs 19:20
Friends, this is the word of God, underscoring why we should always accept correction and discipline. Look at the benefits that come with it:
1. You show others the way to live.
Whoever heeds discipline shows the way to life, but whoever ignores correction leads others astray.
We have an obligation not just to be obedient to the way and will and word of the Lord but to let others see that obedience playing out in the ways we live. Not living in righteousness means living in sinfulness and the one who ignores correction will only lead others down the wrong path and away from being the people the Lord want them to be.
2. You are smart because you love knowledge.
Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but whoever hates correction is stupid.
Life is a learning process, isn’t it? I mean, we are always learning something new or at least we should always be seeking to learn something new. No one is perfectly righteous and so everyone has room to grow. Thanks be to God that He is always guiding us and correcting us, teaching us to be the people he wants us to be. Foregoing this instruction from the Lord is, as the word of the Lord states, just plain stupid.
3. You find yourself in places of honor.
Whoever disregards discipline comes to poverty and shame, but whoever heeds correction is honored.
You find yourself honored because you are connected to the One who IS honor and glory and magnificence. Anyone connected to the Lord will be living in a way that is distinguished and unique from the ways of the world, a world that is only going to lead a person to shame and poverty, not in a monetary sense but rather a spiritual one.
4. You walk the narrow path to life.
Stern discipline awaits anyone who leaves the path; the one who hates correction will die.
Jesus told us this:
“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” Matthew 7:13-14
Through the Lord’s discipline and correction, we will find ourselves always traveling on the narrow road, the road to life. Conversely, shun the Lord’s punishment and you will find yourself on the broad road to destruction and death. I don’t know about you but a little discipline and correction sounds a lot better than that.
5. You will be counted among the wise.
Mockers resent correction, so they avoid the wise. Proverbs 15:12
Whoever heeds life-giving correction will be at home among the wise. Those who disregard discipline despise themselves, but the one who heeds correction gains understanding. Proverbs 15:31-32
Listen to advice and accept discipline, and at the end you will be counted among the wise. Proverbs 19:20
Those who reject the Lord, resent His correction, and avoid His wisdom are fools. It’s that plain and simple and there is no argument on this when it comes to God’s word.
Conversely, those who heed His guidance and counsel, those who listen to His advice and accept His discipline, those who chose to receive His way and adopt it in the way they live, these people will be at home with the Lord and accordingly with other people of wisdom.
Go back to when I was talking about my discipline experiences as a youth. I didn’t see it then but now that I have been a parent myself, raising two children to adulthood, I see crystal clear how correction was done purely out of the deepest sense of love by my father and mother. They didn’t correct me because they loved me less. No, they corrected me because they loved me more and wanted me to grow up to be the man the Lord wanted me to be. When I left home, God, My Father, took over and has led me ever since, correcting and disciplining me when I needed it.
And for that, I am eternally grateful for I could not be the man of the Lord I am without Him. I pray you will praise Him the same way today as you consider how He has corrected you and how that impacted who you are because you accepted it.
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
Send any prayer requests to ourchristianwalk@aol.com
Send any prayer requests to ourchristianwalk@aol.com
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