The word PRIDE hits me square in the face when I read the first verse of Proverbs 12. Nobody likes being told what to do…
“To learn, you must love discipline; it is stupid to hate correction. “ Proverbs 12: 1
In essence, God (through Solomon) is telling us we are acting STUPID if we don’t want to learn! I think we all know that it doesn’t matter if mom and dad send us to the best schools; if we don’t want to learn, it’s pointless and a waste of money. On the other hand, if we want to be taught, there’s no end to what we can learn. I say this verse screams “pride,” because if you aren’t willing to accept discipline and correction, wisdom from others or constructive criticism… then you have a pride problem. Someone with a pride problem hardly learns at all. This leads me to Psalm 19, in which verse 7 says…
“The instructions of the Lord are perfect, reviving the soul.”
Many unsaved people think that chasing after God is boring and no fun. I know because I was one of them! Chances are that you probably were one of them too! But when we found God – correction… when Jesus found us, we started seeing things opposite to what the world sees: God’s law revives us, makes us wise, brings unspeakable joy, gives us insight, warns us, rewards us…etc.
“Wickedness never brings stability, but the godly have deep roots.”Proverbs 12: 3
When storms come, trees with deep roots don’t get uprooted easily. As a matter of fact, the wind and the rain make their roots go deeper to gain more strength and immovability. Also, I think this verse speak about the success of the godly and their efforts. Their efforts stand the test of time. Wow, my Bible commentary speaks of this, and says… sometimes it seems that wickedness does indeed bring success. We may know people who cheated to pass the course or to get a larger tax refund—is this not success? And what about the person who ignores his family commitments and mistreats his workers but gets ahead in business? These apparent successes are only temporary. They are bought at the expense of character. Cheaters grow more and more dishonest, and those who hurt others become callous and cruel. In the long run, evil behavior does not lead to success; it leads only to more evil. Real success maintains personal integrity. If you are not a success by God’s standards, you have not achieved true success.
“The words of the wicked are like a murderous ambush, but the words of the godly save lives.” Proverbs 12: 6
The power of life and death is in our tongues. We’ll look at this more extensively in Proverbs 18. And we know that when God repeats Himself, we need to listen and pay attention!
There is much more in Proverbs 12, and we’ll continue…