PROVERBS 15: 31-32
LIFE-GIVING REPROOF
Reproof is a very positive use of speech, provided it's motivated by love and directed by wisdom. Reproof though can be a difficult pill to swallow, but godly reproof is precious to the soul. It can be bitter to the taste but like medicine, it aids health and healing.
Rebuke or reprimand is not pleasant to our fallen nature but we learn to value it for the results it brings. The best and wisest of us falls short and has much to learn and improve. Correction is the shortest way to this improvement. If there is truth in reproof, grasps it, let it bring humbling and God will bring great good out of it.
Correction for instruction is character training. It comes through God's Word and God's acts in history and in private experience. It is vital and beneficial and when taken to heart it may involve hardship and suffering, but it yields eternal dividends.
Let's study some verses on reproof, correction, and instruction and learn how to grow still wiser.
Proverbs 10:17 proclaims that heeding correction gives life and keeps one on the way of life. "He is on the path of life who heeds instruction, But he who forsakes reproof goes astray" (NASB).
Those who are on the path to life not only receive instruction, but retain it. They do not let it slip by carelessness, as most do, but keep it for their own use, that they may govern themselves by it. They keep it for the benefit of others, that they may instruct them in the way of life. The way of life is the way that has true comfort in it and eternal life at the end of it.
Those who go astray won't receive correction particularly concerning the true path to life. They willfully and obstinately refuse to pay attention when it is offered them. They will not be taught their duty because it reveals their faults to them. Instruction which carries reproof in it has a particular aversion to them because they have false notions of good and evil. The traveler that has missed God's way, and cannot bear to be told of it nor be shown the right way, will thus loss all sight of the way of life. [Henry, Matthew: Matthew Henry's Commentary. Vol 3, MacDonald Publ. McLean, VA. p. 846]
Proverbs 12:1 teaches us to love instruction and not be offended with correction. "Whoever loves discipline [instruction] loves knowledge, but he who hates reproof is stupid."
To love (desire or willingly accept) discipline (mûsr, "moral discipline or correction"; 1:2, 7; 10:17) shows that a person loves (desires) knowledge. He wants to be on the path to wisdom. To hate (reject and despise) correction shows that one is stupid (ba‘ar, "to be brutish or dull-minded" like an animal; also used in 30:2, "ignorant") or devoid of reasoning. [Similar thoughts are given in 12:15; 13:1, 18; 15:5, 10, 12, 31-32].
Some people desire to live in permissive families and communities where there is no check to their convictions and count those enemies who tell them the truth. They are called brutish. They don't want to be morally educated. They don't want to be reproved. They don't want to be corrected. Consequently, they learn the hard way. Because our Father is committed to bringing us into maturity, He's committed to teaching us. The question is, what will it take for us to learn? Will we learn by being corrected by the Scripture, or will we have to learn by going through brutal times? [Jon Courson's Application Commentary: Vol 2. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2006, S. 211]
"Learn!" wisdom cries out. It's an opportunity for us to save ourselves a lot of heartache.
Proverbs 13:1 reveals that wise sons will be instructed but scoffers will not be corrected. "A wise son accepts his father's discipline, but a scoffer does not listen to rebuke."
A wise son (10:1) is receptive to parental instruction (12:1). [The word heeds, though not in the Hebrew, is implied.] The opposite of a wise, teachable son is a mocker (14:6; 15:12; 17:5; 19:29; 21:11; 22:10; 24:9; 30:17) who refuses to listen to and profit from a rebuke (1:23). How can we mend our faults if we refuse to listen or be told of them.
It has been observed that if you are reluctant to receive the rebuke of your earthly father, you will also be reluctant to receive the rebuke of your Father in heaven. Think of the wisest Son of all—Jesus Christ. He said, "I always do the things which please My Father" (John 8:29). What a statement.
Proverbs 13:18 teaches that he that scorns to be taught will be abased while one that is humble enough to learn of his faults will be honored. "Poverty and shame will come to him who neglects discipline [instruction], but he who regards reproof will be honored."
Ignoring discipline (mûsr, "moral discipline or correction"; 1:2) results in poverty and shame because a person without self-discipline is unproductive and others are ashamed of him. They will despise him as foolish, stubborn, and ungovernable. But heeding correction results in honor. He that regards a reproof and will mend what is amiss when it is shown him, gains respect as honorable and genuine. Openness to taking advice is mentioned frequently in Proverbs (12:1; 13:1, 13).
Proverbs 15:5 indicates that if the instruction be despised, give reproof. "A fool rejects his father's discipline, but he who regards reproof is sensible."
If a son refuses to learn from his father's discipline he is a fool ('ewîl, a coarse and hardened fool; 1:7). Also he is stupid (12:1), a mocker (13:1; 15:12), and self-hating (15:32). He will die (v. 10). To follow parental correction is wise. [Shows prudence translates the verb ‘ram, "to be shrewd" in a good sense (19:25).] Heeding the advice of one's parents brings honor.
[Proverbs 15:10 reveals that those who cannot bear to be corrected should expect that life will destroy them. "Stern discipline is for him who forsakes the way; He who hates reproof will die" (NASB).]
Proverbs 15:31 proclaims that faithful friendly reproofs are the reproofs of life because they are a means of spiritual life. "He whose ear listens to the life-giving reproof will dwell among the wise."
Heeding a rebuke (1:23) can be life-giving (1:33) because such a person is impressed by it (17:10), learns from it (19:25), and can become wise. It is the character of the wise that he is willing to be reproved and therefore chooses to be with those that, both by their words and example, will show him what is amiss in himself.
The word "instruction" or "discipline" also can be translated "correction." If you refuse to be corrected, you're cheating your own soul. It has been wisely said that a successful man is one who can lay a firm foundation with the bricks that are thrown at him. Every time someone throws a brick at you, realize there's something true, something you can learn, something you can gain from that brick. Then build on it.
Proverbs 15:32 shows the folly of turning your back on godly instruction. "He who neglects discipline [instruction] despises himself, but he who listens to reproof acquires understanding [Lit heart] (NASB). To ignore discipline (mûsr, moral correction; vv 5, 10) results in loss of life and knowledge, which shows that the ignorer actually hates himself ("harms himself," 8:36). [Walvoord, John & Zuck, Roy; The Bible Knowledge Commentary. Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1983, S. 939]
Proverbs 29:1 informs us of the obstinate, of those who refuse to heed, to bow the neck to God's word find them. "A man who hardens his neck after much reproof will suddenly be broken beyond remedy."
A man who is stiff-necked, that is, hardened and refusing to repent or submit to repeated correction (many rebukes; 1:30) from those who are concerned for his welfare. One who with stiff-necked persistence in sin and in self-delusion sets himself in opposition to all endeavors to save his soul and life will suddenly be destroyed (1:27; 6:15; 10:25a; 28:18) and without prospect of restoration (Jer. 19:11; ). No longer will a remedy be available.
In Closing,
Godly instruction is designed to cultivate reason and prepare for the eternity. The fundamental error of sinners is undervaluing their own souls. They therefore they neglect to provide for them, abuse them, expose them, prefer the body over the soul, and wrong the soul to please the body [Henry, 880]. Read Proverbs 1:23-29.
