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Rebuke a wise man & he will love thee...

re·buke /rɪˈbyuk/ Pronunciation Key - –verb (used with object) 1. to express sharp, stern disapproval of; reprove; reprimand.

"It is good for us to be reproved, and told of our faults, by our friends. If true love in the heart has but zeal and courage enough to show itself in dealing plainly with our friends, and reproving them for what they say and do amiss, this is really better, not only than secret hatred but than secret love, that love to our neighbors which does not show itself in this good fruit, which compliments them in their sins, to the prejudice of their souls. Faithful are the reproofs of a friend, though for the present they are painful as wounds. It is a sign that our friends are faithful indeed if, in love to our souls, they will not suffer sin upon us, nor let us alone in it. The physician's care is to cure the patient's disease, not to please his palate."


We all know, that accepting rebuke, or being rebuked is definitely not fun. Why? The reason why we don't want to be rebuked is because we all want to hear that we are doing a great job, or that we couldn't be any better. But unfortunately, we are all going to make mistakes, which is the very nature of our heart. Another reason why we do not like to be rebuked or we fight rebuke is because of pride. We have pride in what we do and we do great. This goes along with us wanting to hear that we are excellent, but some people just cannot accept the fact that what they did or have done is or was wrong. It is the heart that gives us our pride and foolishness. When you begin to have pride, you will fall, and you will fall hard.


As it says in Proverbs 16:18-20"18 Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall. 19 Better to be lowly in spirit and among the oppressed than to share plunder with the proud. 20 Whoever gives heed to instruction prospers, and blessed is he who trusts the Lord."In verse 20 it talks about taking heed to instruction and prospering, which is taking rebuke or advice. Take it and you will prosper.Why do people rebuke? Well, rebuking is out of love and because of love. That should be the only reason why you should rebuke someone is to love them by showing there fault and helping them correct their ways. So, if you rebuke someone, you know it is out of love. Why then do you think someone else would rebuke you? Do you think it is because they hate you, or they want to say you made a mistake, or they just want to see you sad. No. If you are or were rebuked, you should know that the reason you were rebuked is because that person wants to see your relationship with God grow! They want to correct you so that you would have no faults and be blameless. They want to help you see the option that would be more pleasing to God. It is sad to find that more often than not, if you continually sit in Church sermons that are never rebuking or correcting you, you will more likely be offended when a friend tries to correct you, also. Sin has ruined the human race in many ways. One of those ways is the utter hatred of men to be rebuked for their sin. Men should be conformed to the image of God, which is perfectly free from sin, and completely pure. But men love 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 corrects sin (or rather the sinner) back to righteousness. So is 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 deterioration of the human psyche is always opposed to righteousness, and will always love sin rather than righteousness because men’s deeds are evil. If the bashing and hateful comments continue from the person you have tried to help far after you have retreated your rebuke, then Christian love is NOT present.


Some say that when you rebuke someone, you are not being like Christ. In actually, Christ said - 'Those whom I love, I rebuke and discipline". - Revelation 3:19


And you can also tell what a person is like on how they accept rebuke.Proverbs 9:8-"Reprove not a scorner, lest he hate thee: rebuke a wise man, and he will love thee."So, you should always take rebuke with a wise and humble heart, because it says in this verse that if you are wise, you would not only just accept rebuke, but you would be thankful and love the person that has rebuked you. Why? Because they are saving you from making the wrong choice and trying to correct those faults in you and help you grow in your relationship with the Lord. So here are some things to keep in mind while being rebuked :


1) It's coming from someone who is concerned enough about you to risk his relationship with you in order to help you.

2) Remember, open rebuke is better than secret love. It's better to be open than for it to be hidden.

3) It's one of God's ways to help you to grow and become conformed to His image.

4) Your response to the rebukes demonstrates the level of wisdom you have. ("rebuke a wise man and he will love thee")

5) Remember the sowing/reaping principle. How you receive it will be reaped when you have to rebuke someone in the future.


Remember, when accepting rebuke, be humble and love the person rebuking you, because they are showing you love and want to see you succeed!

 
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