“Whoever corrects a mocker invites
insult; whoever rebukes a wicked man incurs abuse. Do not rebuke a mocker or he
will hate you; rebuke a wise man and he will love you. Instruct a wise man and
he will be wiser still; teach a righteous man and he will add to his learning.”
This passage of scripture is very
revealing. It lays out for us the response of both a wicked man and a wise man
when they are rebuked. Their reactions give us an excellent description of
where their hearts are at. The mocker, or wicked man, displays an arrogance and
pride, gracelessly refusing to consider the correction they have been given.
The wise, or righteous man, in comparison accepts the rebuke with thankfulness,
humbly taking the correction into consideration and altering his ways. However,
we cannot be so quick to apply this knowledge of how a wicked man and a wise
man will react to correction to our view of others without first using it to
examine our own lives. Are we accepting rebuke arrogantly or humbly? Are we
listening to the correction others give us? It is often hard for us to see some
of the sin in our lives that others see clearly because we rationalize the sin
until we no longer realize we are sinning. When we accept rebuke humbly, we
reflect wisdom and the Holy Spirit that lives within us.
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