Daily Devotional For Friday, February 16, 2024

Reproofs are not anything I see anyone jumping at to receive. We would often rather give a reproof rather than receive one. This is not what Jesus means in Acts 20:35b, “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (ESV). Sometimes those reproofs come this way:

• From our spouse — “You’re going to be working late again at the office!”
• From our children — “You’re going to be out of town and miss my game again!”
• From our boss — “You can’t keep coming in late!”
• From a teacher — “Why didn’t you do your homework?”
• From a church member — “You didn’t even call me back, why?”

Sometimes a parent will send a non-verbal reproof to their misbehaving child that says, “Stop that now!” Reproofs are good and we all probably would agree, until we are the one receiving them. We can get defensive and make excuses. God’s reproofs are good for us as well. We all tend to look at reproofs in the wrong way — myself included here. When your spouse or a friend gives you a reproof it is because they see something that is wrong and out of love they attempt to head this off quickly. Have you ever watched someone you love self-destruct and wish you had said something to them prior?

If we all were to look at reproofs as good, then we give ourselves the opportunity to grow spiritually and relationally with God and others. You have heard me say this many times: God is more interested in growing your character than in making you comfortable. The ultimate goal of all Christians should be to have their character resemble Christ’s character. What I see today in almost every area of life is a total breakdown of what is right and wrong. As an American culture, we used to have a clearly defined agreed upon definition of this. Today, each individual can determine for themselves what is right and wrong, even it if means damage and deptruciont to others and personal property.

Just recently two climate activists threw some pink powder on the glass case displaying and protecting our 1787 U.S. Constitution in the National Archives. Something similar happened in Paris when climate activists threw cake on Leonardo de Vinci’s Mona Lisa at their Louvre in Paris in 2022. A few months later the same thing happened again at London’s National Gallery, when climate activists splashed tomato soup on the glass case protecting Vincent van Gogh's Fifteen Sunflowers causing minor damage to the frame. Other activists have glued themselves to famous artworks.

People today are willing to break the law, damage national and personal treasures and property for their cause. When I was growing, no one would have done that for fear of prosecution. To be honest — I feared my mother more than anything else. She would have “killed” me or at least make me think I was going to die.

Because no one wants to correct anyone anymore (give reproofs), it has created the attitude that I can damage anyone’s property both national and personal. Chuck Swindoll provides a table of character traits — some verbal and some non-verbal. Look over this and recall the verbal and nonverbal warnings of your recent past. Select the traits that nudge your conscience. Which of these need attention in your life (see Charles . Swindoll, Living the Proverbs: Insight For The Daily Grind, p. 20).

"Alertness, Discernment, Love, Sincerity, Appreciation, Discipline, Loyalty, Submissiveness, Compassion, Efficiency, Objectivity, Tactfulness, Confidentiality, Enthusiasm, Patience, Teachability, Consistency, Flexibility, Peacefulness, Thoroughness, Cooperativeness, Gentleness, Punctuality, Thoughtfulness, Courtesy, Honesty, Self-control, Tolerance, Creativity, Humility, Sense of humor, Understanding, Dependability, Initiative, Sensitivity, Unselfishness."

Take a moment and open your Bible and read Proverbs 1. In this opening chapter are several reproofs from God.  For example, read Proverbs 1:24, “Because I have called and you refused to listen, I have stretched out My hand and no one has heeded” (ESV). The Hebrew word translated here [וַתְּמָאֵ֑נוּ, waenaenu] and it means “to intentionally and stubbornly refuse.” We see the same Hebrew word used of Pharaoh, who refused to let the Hebrews leave Egypt. Sometimes this is a good attitude as with the midwives in Exodus 1:7 who refused to obey Pharaoh’s orders to kill male infants. We see the same attitude in the New Testament when the disciples and Paul were ordered to stop sharing the Gospel and they intentionally and stubbornly refused to comply.

Sometimes we deny there is a problem because we have hardened our hearts to be sensitive the Holy Spirit’s leading or the person who is doing the reproof. We get in our “box” and box out the reproof. It is like the driver who has his/her EarPods in listening to music or a podcast and does not hear the car behind the blowing the horn letting them know the light has changed from red to green. We have the tendency to box-out or block being sensitive to reproof. 

Questions To Consider

• When someone reproofs you, what is your initial reaction and why?
• When someone comes to you with wise counsel, do you accept it or reject it? Why? Do you think, “I know what is best for me because I am me. They're not.” In other words, you take the position of denial — you deny you need this and you deny there is a problem. If there is no problem in your view, then there is nothing to change. Right?
• What does it take for you to change from reproof? Pain? Listening to the person who gave you the reproof?
• Right now in your life: what are you pretending is not a problem or an issue and why?
• When it comes to reproof, on a scale of 1-10, what level do you think Jesus Christ would give you and why? Please don’t lie to the Holy Spirit as Annas and Sapphira did in the Book of Acts. It wasn’t pretty for them.

Scripture to Meditate On: Proverbs 15:31, “The ear that listens to life-giving reproof will dwell among the wise” (ESV).

Prayer To Pray: “Dear Jesus, You say in Matthew 11:15, “He who has ears to hear,  let him hear” (ESV). Help me to be honest with You and others when I receive reproof. I do not want things to get so bad that it takes a very painful situation to get my attention to listen to You and others who love me. I do not want to have to be broken in every way as You had to break Pharaoh. God send someone my way who loves me enough to tell me the truth about an area I need to change and give me the humility to listen to them. In Jesus’ name, Amen!”

I love you, Pastor Kelly