Proverbs Day 9

Proverbs 9:8 ~

Any bragger you correct
will only hate you.
But if you correct someone
who has common sense,
you will be loved.


(Contemporary English Version)

Are you teachable?

This is one of those tests of a right or wrong heart. If you can never be found wrong, can never accept instruction, or become defensive at the first sign of correction, that is a sure indication of a prideful heart. However, if correction causes you to reflect inward and brings conviction to your spirit, that shows you have a tender, teachable heart.

Someone that thinks he is right all the time deceives himself. No one is that perfect, no matter how "spiritual" he is. Pride resides in even the best and well-meaning of us and it takes constant reflection and soul searching to keep its clutches from entangling our heart.

It's frustrating to try and help someone who just wants to blame everyone around them for their life's troubles. Often in life we do suffer injustice. It's rotten, but it's life. Yet in every circumstance there is something to learn. Something to help us grow and improve ourselves. So when we close our ears to hearing that just maybe we might have been better to approach a situation a little differently, well, we're just limiting ourselves and guaranteeing one more trip around that mountain. Some people are carving trenches, they've been 'round that mountain so many times!

If pride isn't rooted out and dealt with, it will make you bitter and hateful. Maybe not today, but eventually over time, what's not dealt with will grow and its roots will run deep and get harder to cut out.

Don't let your heart be hardened with pride. Allow yourself to be teachable. And above all, please don't shoot the messenger!