Love Instruction, Gain Knowledge
The door to wisdom is correction
Today's Scripture
“Whoso loveth instruction loveth knowledge: but he that hateth reproof is brutish.”
Opening thought
Every student knows that you cannot learn without being corrected. A teacher marks the mistakes in red ink, not to shame the student, but to show him where he went wrong. The student who studies the red ink improves. The student who throws the paper away repeats the same mistakes.
The devotional message
Two Kinds of People
Today's Scripture divides people into two groups. The first loves instruction, and so loves knowledge. The second hates reproof, and the Bible calls him "brutish." That is a strong word. It means behaving like an animal that cannot reason, one that will not learn from what happens to it.
The link is simple: you cannot love knowledge and hate correction at the same time. Correction is the door through which knowledge enters. Every time someone shows us our error, God is offering us a lesson. If we close the door, we close ourselves to wisdom.
Receiving Reproof
It is not easy to be corrected. Our pride rises up. We want to defend ourselves, explain ourselves, or blame someone else. But the Scripture says, "He is in the way of life that keepeth instruction: but he that refuseth reproof erreth" (Proverbs 10:17).
Brethren, how do you respond when you are corrected by your pastor, your spouse, your colleague, or the Word of God? Do you study the red ink, or do you throw the paper away? Love instruction, and you will grow in knowledge.
Today's quote
Correction is the door through which knowledge enters.
Reflect on the Word
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How do you usually react when someone corrects you?
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Can you remember a correction that later made you wiser?
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Whose correction do you find hardest to receive, and why?
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Put it into practice
Closing prayer
Lord, forgive me for the times I have rejected correction out of pride. Give me a teachable heart. When You correct me through Your Word or through people, help me to listen, to learn, and to change. Let me love instruction, so that I may grow in knowledge and wisdom. In Jesus' name, amen.
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