And say: “How I have hated instruction, and my heart despised correction!” Proverbs 5:12
Being instructed is something that begins from the moment a person is born and continues all the way through life. Each and every day there is always something new to be learned, whether on a job, at home or just in life in general. Things are always changing and moving. Although many things are needed to be learned, many people choose to reject instruction. They hate being told what to do or how to do it, wanting to be their own person.
Solomon talks of a person who has given into wicked ways and later claims that he had hated instruction or despised being corrected.
Without instruction one cannot really know what do to, how do anything, or the consequences of doing anything good or bad. Being taught was something that God started right from the beginning of the creation of mankind. He gave Adam and Eve a few instructions on how to live and what they could do or not do while they were still in the Garden of Eden.
In the same way that Adam and Eve rejected the instructions given them, people hate instruction today. Often people think it is just children in school or homes that hate instructions, but it is adults too. Supervisors in the workplace give many instructions on how to get work done and give correction when not done right, yet many ignore those instructions and despise any correction. People want their own independence.
Believers will often tend to hate instruction and correction by God. Instead of embracing what God teaches, they run the other direction and get angry with God.
Each one should embrace what God teaches and those He sends teaches. God gives instruction to build the believer, not tear one down, to give life, not death.
Every day you live there are some things that you need to be instructed in to keep moving forward. You may be a person who hates being instructed and likes to do things on your own. While it may be good to be able to do things on your own, God has not made it that way. His word, the Bible, was given to give you instruction and correction in this life on how to live for Him. Do not allow your heart to grow cold and hate His instruction. Live by His plans and embrace the abundant life He has for you.
Today I pray that you will know Jesus as your Lord and Savior; that you will know and obey what God has instructed you to do; that you will not despise God’s correction on how to live; and that you will find joy in living God’s way.
Picture by Annie Spratt on Unsplash
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