HarvestInsider

“Do not rebuke mockers or they will hate you; rebuke the wise and they will love you.  Instruct the wise and they will be wiser still; teach the righteous and they will add to their learning.”  Proverbs 9:8-9

Have you ever told someone what they needed to hear, not necessarily what they wanted to hear?  How did they respond?  Did they appreciate your counsel, or did they get angry and upset?  Their response reveals everything about whether they have a wise spirit or a foolish one.  A foolish person will hate you, but a wise person welcomes the truth into their lives.

Many people, when they face difficulties, don’t want to hear the truth, but rather they want someone to listen to their problems, to feel sorry for them, to affirm what they want… and if someone presses them to consider wisdom, they angrily accuse that person of not listening, or not caring, or not having their best interests at heart.  The sad part is, these people have no desire to grow, but rather to have their selfish nature coddled and affirmed.  The bible calls these people foolish.

But the wise person has an earnest desire to grow and experience God’s very best, even if that means putting to death the desires of their selfish nature.  They welcome the counsel of others who are wise and who will share with them the Truth.  They have no desire to be coddled and cuddled… they want to grow.  They have a heart that is willing to do whatever it takes to draw closer to God and to grow in that relationship with Him.