Desire To Be Corrected?

Proverbs 12:1

“Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge,

but he who hates reproof is stupid.”

In order to learn anything I have to be corrected. It is just how I learn. When I was first learning martial arts I got corrected a lot, but less so as time went on. Somehow constructive criticism is harder to take when you have been doing something for a long time, I know that was the case with martial arts for me. And yet, I also desired it. As I got higher and higher up in rank there were less and less people to teach me, and I began teaching others. However the new techniques are not explained as often as a basic straight punch, so many times I found myself desiring to be corrected. Again I don't really like it, it's embarrassing to be taken aside and told how you don't meet the standard, but without it I also never get better. Just as I desire to practice martial arts with excellence, I desire to walk through life excellently. I want to walk alive in the Spirit, and I want to do that excellently. This verse says whoever loves discipline loves knowledge. I want to know God more, I'm not sure that that is the knowledge being referred to here, but I have a feeling it still applies. If I love the knowledge of God, I have to be open to the discipline of God.

“For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.” ~Hebrews 12:11

This explains what I mean, being corrected whether verbally, physically, or through trials, is not a pleasant experience. However look at what it yields, the peaceful fruit of righteousness. God often uses painful situations to break us and bring us to repentance again when we have started to stray away. Then the righteousness of Jesus can be imputed to us, and we are at peace with God again. However there is a small catch.

“to those who have been trained by it.”

In other words there are people who are not always trainable, and therefore do not gain the fruit of the discipline but instead have to be disciplined again and again. They harden their hearts more and more and have to go through more heartache, they hate reproof, and miss out on the fruit. And as our verse for today says that's just stupid. Please don't think I mean this to put someone down, I am thinking of my own life first. I would hate to miss have a closer relationship with God because I hated reproof. It is stupid, I want so badly to be close to God, but if I don't receive discipline then there will definitely be times that I will be held back from closer communion with God. I will also have to go through learning the same lesson over and over. To go through it once is more than I want, and to try and escape or ignore it would mean I don't even get anything good out of it, and I do feel then that hate is a stupid response to discipline.

So in order to be trainable I need to love discipline and reproof, not experiencing it, it's probably not mentally healthy to enjoy pain. However, I should love it because of what it produces in my life.

Application.

Receive discipline willingly.

How?

Today I will write out 3 occasions where discipline has brought me closer to God in the past, in order to help me keep things in perspective when I am corrected. I will also tell God I am open to His discipline and ask for a heart ready to receive it.