A Mark of a Disciple...

I found this mark of a disciple tucked in Proverbs 9...

Leave your simple ways and you will live; walk in the way of understanding. Whoever corrects a mocker invites insult; whoever rebukes a wicked man incurs abuse. Do not rebuke a mocker or he will hate you; rebuke a wise man and he will love you. Instruct a wise man and he will be wiser still; teach a righteous man and he will add to his learning. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.
(Proverbs 9:6-10 NIV)

Have you ever seen someone receive godly/biblical correction and then they rise up in arrogance and pride and anger or maybe they go off and complain about the one giving the correction - usually a leader of some sort (a parent, employer, or spiritual leader)? They begin insulting them or verbally abusing them or maybe it manifests through arguing openly and angrily... perhaps they withdraw and withhold relationship from the person correcting them...

How often have we ever seen someone get corrected and they thank the person correcting them and show more love to that person who loved them enough to say something... can you imagine correcting your child and them thanking you and giving you a huge hug?

I believe what we see here in Proverbs 9 is something that we want in our hearts as disciples and in the hearts of our children and the people we are discipling... we do not want the ones we love to be mockers or wicked fools...

Our response to correction and discipline says a lot about where we are in life... I desire to be wise and increase in wisdom... to add to my learning... I want my children to be wise and increase in wisdom and to add to their learning... I want my spiritual sons and daughters to be wise and increase in wisdom and to add to their learning...

I love how this passage reads in the Message Bible...

Leave your impoverished confusion and live! Walk up the street to a life with meaning. If you reason with an arrogant cynic, you’ll get slapped in the face; confront bad behavior and get a kick in the shins. So don’t waste your time on a scoffer; all you’ll get for your pains is abuse. But if you correct those who care about life, that’s different—they’ll love you for it! Save your breath for the wise—they’ll be wiser for it; tell good people what you know—they’ll profit from it. Skilled living gets its start in the Fear-of-God, insight into life from knowing a Holy God.
(Proverbs 9:6-10 MESSAGE)