what God is telling me to do, but in my day to day I keep failing.
Have you ever read Proverbs? Do you know how many times it says “he who hates correction is stupid”? That theme has been in every chapter I have read for the past twelve days, and I am guessing it will continue.
So here I am, desiring to be wise and knowing that means I need
to love correction. That is where I am hitting a wall. I can receive correction from the Bible, books, teachings, my sister, even my friends; it is my husband that brings out my defensiveness.
This is what happened yesterday. The fire was dying, seeing the
need and with the desire to bless my family, I arose from my comfy chair and put wood in the wood burner. As I was about to open the door, my husband reminded me to put fire gloves on first. Next, I grabbed a fire tool and started to stir the coals. My husband commented, “I don’t know why you use that tool when a shovel allows you to catch the coals if they start to fall out.” Finally, I loaded the burner and shut the door only to have him ask, “Is that log touching the glass?”
In my mind I was thinking, ”Where is your thankfulness? How do I ever manage to get anything done without you there to check my every step?” I was irritated.
Out of my mouth came, “It is not right or wrong, my way is just
different than yours. Why can’t you just be thankful that I stoked the fire?”
Now the irritation was shared, he retorted, “Why can’t you receive correction and not battle me?”
OUCH! He even used the exact word that God had been using to teach me.
We talked more and I am back on my feet headed toward loving correction.
I could have honored my husband in the above scenario by loving
his correction and viewing him as wise. He is more of an expert at fires than I am.
--What harm would be done by my saying, “Thanks for the reminder.” After all, putting on gloves before opening the extremely hot door only protects me from accidentally burning my hand.
--And since I know Todd would prefer I use the shovel over the
other tool, why would I continue to grab “my” tool? This is not a moral issue, this is a pride issue and my pride needs to go.
--Is it wrong to point out that the log is touching the glass? Not if the person standing by the fire is teachable. Was he supposed to just wait until I noticed, so I wouldn’t feel like a failure?
As you can see, I still have a long ways to go, but I will continue on my journey toward being wise. I am praying for strength and humility to live like Proverbs 12:1.
“Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but he who hates
correction is stupid.”