The Wise Man Loves Correction - Zac Poonen

“He who corrects a scoffer gets dishonor for himself, and he who reproves a wicked man gets insults for himself. Do not reprove a scoffer, or he will hate you, reprove a wise man and he will love you. Give instruction to a wise man and he will be still wiser, teach a righteous man and he will increase his learning.” Proverbs 9:7-9

Correction is one of the purposes with which God's word has been given. We read that in 2 Timothy 3:16: “All scripture is given by God and is profitable for...correction and for instruction in righteousness.” We also see in the book of Proverbs that a very important way that wisdom is communicated to us is through correction. But not all can be corrected. Many people never acquire wisdom because when they are corrected, they get offended. Most believers get offended when you correct them. If you flatter them and say they are wonderful, spiritual, and wholehearted, they become all puffed up and are very friendly with you. If you tell them there is something wrong in what they are doing and point it out specifically, they get offended, they get hurt, they are cold towards you, they are disturbed about it, and they lose their sleep. They are not bothered about the thing that needs to be corrected in their life but instead they are disturbed that somebody has pointed them out as carnal. Such people can live year after year after year and never become wise.

I would say that one of the main reasons why many believers never become wise is because they get offended when they are corrected. Many young people only hang around those who flatter them and praise them. Even though they may sit in so-called New Testament churches, they have the spirit of Babylon in them, because they are only interested in flattery and not correction. If I am only interested in flattery and not in correction, I can sit in the most spiritual assembly in the whole world and be a Babylonian through and through. Correcting a person who does not want wisdom is a waste of time and “he who reproves a wicked man gets insults for himself. Do not reprove a scoffer lest he hate you. Reprove a wise man.”

Here's the mark of a wise man: correct him or rebuke him, and he will love you. Every one of us can sit and ask ourselves whether we are wise or not. Here is some homework. Think of somebody who has corrected you. It could be a father, a mother, a husband, or maybe an elder brother. Do you really love him with all your heart? If so, then you are wise. All wise people love correction. That is how they became wise. The main reason why it is so difficult for young people to get out of their folly is because they do not love correction. Beware of the brothers and sisters who just say nice things. They are not going to help you to be wise. You do not see that wisdom flatters anyone in the book of Proverbs or in the whole Scripture. The word of God is not given for flattery, it is given for correction.

Proverbs 9:9 says, “Give instruction to the wise man and he will be still wiser.” Why does the wise man love correction? Because he wants to be even wiser. He knows that he has not attained to the wisdom of God yet and so he wants to be still wiser. Therefore, he receives correction and reproof. If you give an already righteous man an exhortation like, “Flee from the love of money, brother”, he does not get offended that you think he loves money. He takes it. Think of what Paul wrote to Timothy: “Brother, flee from youthful lusts.” Timothy did not get offended. He did not think, “Does Paul think I am running after youthful lusts?” No, he took it - “Thank you brother for that exhortation. It is good for me. I need it.” And he becomes still more free from youthful lusts and the love of money.

The poor in spirit alone can become wise. The poor in spirit are those who are willing to be corrected and who see their need of being more like Jesus and having more of God's purity, peaceableness, and goodness in their life. A test of whether we are growing in wisdom or not is whether there is a love for those who correct us. If we are open to rebuke and correction and we long for it and we want it, then we are wise. And if we are not wanting it, we can say we are sort of stagnant. We are not really growing in wisdom at all. But the more wise we are, the more we long for correction and more wisdom. We see here that our attitude to correction is not only a test of our wisdom, it is a test of our humility, and it is humility which receives the grace of God.