My dear readers,

Teachability – A Mark of Wisdom!

Proverbs 12:1: “Whoso loveth instruction loveth knowledge: but he that hateth reproof is brutish.”

When we are praised, we like it. When it is constructive criticism or exhortation, we become defensive and reject it. This phenomenon is deepened when they come from people we care for and look up to. People like other people to view them as smart, good and well behaved. People dress well to look smart, and the reaction is anger when the comments are negative. When a difficult assignment is completed after much labour, we want others to say it is good. It boosts our morale and confidence. When there are negative remarks, despondency sets in immediately, especially when they come from our boss, whom we may wish to please. This truth applies to students who studied hard and obtained good results in their own eyes, but which are not good enough for parents. Basically, negative remarks are not very welcome to recipients. Yet the Bible says that negative remarks are better than positive ones.

Proverbs 12:1 is one of many verses in the Bible that highlights the importance of negative remarks.

God says in Proverbs 12:1 that the one who loves instruction loves knowledge. Love is the strongest and deepest emotion in the believer. This is not the love of man or from man. Sinful man does not know and does not have this love. This is the love of God given to every one of His children. Romans 5:5: “And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.” God gave this love to His children the moment they accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour by the Holy Spirit. One evidence of a born-again believer is the experience of this love of God in his heart.

In other words, all God's children ought to love instruction. The instruction here is the Bible. Ninety percent of the Word of God is about rebuke. Thus, the Word of God for “instruction” used in Proverbs 12:1 means “correction” or “chastisement.” Chastisement is the correction that brings improvement in a person’s life. The motive for chastisement is love. All believers love chastisement because they know that it comes from God. One of the main reasons for this is that every believer who is born-again is holy in Christ. It is this holiness in him that helps him love chastisement.

He knows that as he serves and witnesses for Christ in the mortal flesh, he will continue to be influenced by the powers of this world. The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life have more dominion over him, but that does not mean they have no impact on him. Every child of God will still succumb to sin, in his heart, mind, lips and deeds. However, the closer he draws to God in service, prayer and worship, the holier he will become. The holier he becomes, the more sensitive he will be to sin. The slightest speck of sin is now like the size of an elephant in his eyes when before his salvation “elephant size” sins were not even regarded as sins. That is why he loves chastisements because he knows that he needs them to be holy.

Another reason for him to love chastisement is that he knows the chastisement is from his loving heavenly Father. Many of us do not have a problem if the chastisement is during our Quiet Time when we are reading God's Word. It appears to come directly from God. But when the chastisement comes from man, like our spouses, siblings, friends, a teacher or a preacher, we struggle to accept. In fact, we have to confess that we tend to recoil by retaliation and justification. Our pride is hurt. We see this as an attack on our person or character. Therefore, unless we see this as from God our heavenly Father, we will not be lovers of chastisement.

Our heavenly Father knows us best. He chooses the best instrument to chastise us with so as to help us become holier in Christ. We need to honestly evaluate and seriously consider the words of the chastisement, and if it is obviously true then we need to repent and change and be better for Christ’s sake and glory. If it truly is not justified, then thank God for the chastisement that resulted in an honest evaluation. Retaliation and being defensive have often resulted in quarrels and sadly at times ruined relationships. If we love chastisement, then God says we also love knowledge.

Our knowledge of God improves as we experience His love, care and mercies through chastisements. God tells us that He chastises only those He loves. Hebrews 12:6: “For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.” By the grace of God, we turn head knowledge into experiential knowledge which is true biblical knowledge. Such experiential knowledge is priceless as it helps us during future adversities and whenever we doubt the presence of God in our lives. The precious experiences through overcoming adversities and acquiring experiential knowledge will keep us in the faith and strengthen our resolve to stay true to our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ and not fall into sin. Our knowledge of self will be deepened as well. We are reminded that we are holy works of God in the process. The Master’s Hand of love continues to chip away all the bad and evil blemishes that tarnish our holy witness for Christ. We want to be holier and better witnesses for Christ when we love chastisement. This keeps us humble and the sin of pride away because we know that the moment pride enters the next step is the fall.

On the other hand, the one who hates reproof is brutish, i.e. foolish. He is not a believer because the use of this strong word by God through the KJV translators refers to one who is not born-again in Christ. The root word for “brutish” is “to be consumed”; it will be either by fire or by being eaten. Since the chastisement is from God and the fool hates the chastisement from God, it makes sense that he is not born-again in Christ. If, however, the person did not like the chastisement at the beginning, but repents and accepts it later, he is not brutish. He does not hate reproof because he will repent later.

The fool is one who turns his back on the reproof which means he will remain in sin. It does not matter that the person does not regard what he has done as sinful; he will still remain in sin. The reason why he does not see it as sinful is because he is not born again and cannot see sin for what sin is. The one who is born-again is able to do so because the Holy Spirit who dwells in every believer is the One who enables him to see and repent. The Holy Spirit will open the eyes of the child of God to the Word when the Word of God convicts. He cannot help himself but be convicted, like King David. He will say like King David, “I have sinned.” 2 Samuel 12:13: “And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the LORD. And Nathan said unto David, The LORD also hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die.” That is why the Bible says that the one who loves chastisement loves knowledge and the one who hates reproof is brutish, i.e. a fool in God's eyes!

Conclusion: Negative, profitable remarks sanctify. Perhaps if we have a positive perspective of them, there will be less self-pity and despondency. The world’s notion of “positivity” and “confidence” hides the reality of life. Man is born in sin. He lives in sin. He dies in sin and he ends up in hell. This is a very “negative” life. It is a life of “doom.” The world’s spin on “positivity” is the ploy of the devil to blind the minds of sinners to the need to find a way out of his “doomed” life. Only Jesus Christ is able to destroy the devil’s ploy.

Once the sinner realizes he needs the chastisement of the Word of God to convict him of his innumerable sins against God, he will turn to Jesus Christ as his Lord and Saviour. It will be the beginning of his love of the knowledge of God. This love will sustain him. He will continue to love knowledge because he will love chastisement. Those who come to church expecting no sanctification, i.e. chastisement, have a real spiritual problem. They might very well not be born again in Christ. They need to see that the chastisement is from God. Are we sanctified believers who continue to love sanctification, i.e. the cleansing power of God’s Word which chastises?