THINK TOGETHER.
Do you know what an opinion is? How opinionated are you?
READ TOGETHER
Proverbs 15:31-32. 31The ear that listens to life-giving reproof will dwell among the wise. 32Whoever ignores instruction despises himself, but he who listens to reproof gains intelligence.
We’re about halfway through the book of Proverbs and there have been dozens of statements about being a good listener. Here’s two more: Listen to reproof, and don’t ignore instruction.
In other words, be teachable.
I know many adults who aren’t teachable. They can’t handle reproof (being corrected), and they would rather do things their own way than listen to instructions. Often adults have all kinds of opinions on how things should be done and so they would rather tell their opinions than learn something new from someone. The question for you is, are you growing into a teachable person or an opinionated person who always “knows better” than everyone else?
Solomon wants the unteachable person to know that they are despising themselves. They are being deceived. They think they have already “arrived.” They think there is nothing left for them to learn. But when they think this way they actually hate themselves. Why would Solomon say this? Because any time we fail to be teachable by God and others, we are only hurting ourselves and our relationships with others (whether we know it or not).
Of course the most important instruction that we must listen to is the gospel. The gospel tells us to repent and trust in Jesus to forgive us of our sins. Only when we are humble, and listen to what God says about our sin, can we dwell forever among the Wise, Jesus our Savior.
Because of Jesus God’s reproof will always bring life.
With Jesus we can listen and be teachable.
DO SOMETHING TOGETHER
Look at your social media together. It won’t take long to find people’s opinions. Are people on social media acting teachable or just opinionated?
PRAY TOGETHER
Jesus, I want to be wise and be a good listener even when it means being corrected. Amen.
TLICfamily 