INSULT OR LOVE
Proverbs 9:7-8 (NLT) Anyone who rebukes a mocker will get an insult in return. Anyone who corrects the wicked will get hurt. So don’t bother correcting mockers; they will only hate you. But correct the wise, and they will love you.
Such an interesting time we live in. A time when godly wisdom is mostly disdained. There was a time, even among the lost, when there was not so much mockery of God, and the things of God and His church. I think the church has some blame to take for this, but it also has to do with these being the last days, and the devil is the mocker in chief. He is the wicked one. His children, those who are not born again, take on his views, and even his personality. Jesus said that the lost ones have a father, and he is the devil. We have to remember that this godly wisdom God has made available to us is not received well by the world and the world system.
When you rebuke someone, you are correcting them for their benefit. In our circles, we know that God rebukes and corrects those He loves. The wisdom of God does rebuke, correct, and adjust us. If you try and help someone who is a mocker, someone who doesn’t esteem the Word and the wisdom of God, you will not get a thank you. You will get an insult instead. A side note for us, if someone who is over us in the Lord corrects us, we should be grateful rather than upset, and we certainly should not insult them or say anything negative about them to anyone else. That would make you and I of the wrong spirit and would associate us with unbelievers. The next part of the verse is also true and should be a warning that is sufficient. If you attempt to correct the wicked person, then you will get hurt. The Bible is not specific, but the Amplified Classic says he “gets bruises.” It is interesting that today people get fighting mad over the wisdom of the Word of God, but we have been warned that would happen.
On the other hand, if you correct someone who is already wise, someone who is born of God, a child of God, then they will love you. When someone cares enough to correct or rebuke you with the Word of God, they love you and want the best for you. A really wise person will love those who correct them because they love God. The Bible says that correction from the Lord, even though grievous at the time, produces the fruit of righteousness. In the same way, God, many times, uses messengers to get His Word to us. It is also true of rebuke. Don’t shoot the messenger. Love the messenger. Now, let me give you a warning. There is no one who has a ministry of correction. None of us are called to go around and just correct people. God usually uses people we have relationships with to rebuke and correct us and not strangers or those with whom we have no relationship with. Are you wise? I can tell when you are rebuked. If you get mad and mouthy, you are a mocker. If you are wise, you love that someone loved you enough to correct you; and even if it hurts or embarrasses you, you are grateful to God and to them.