Pride ignores rebukes

One life event can became a negative to the rest of life. In high school, I did so well that if my marks were less than 100% in pop quizzes, the rest of the class made fun of me. This treatment, plus my pride, affected my view of being corrected. Correction didn’t happen very often but when it did, I dismissed it. Instead of seeing it as helpful, it seemed like mockery. Looking back, I can remember a few times that I should have listened and didn’t, resulting in life-long problems.

Today’s reading reflects how I feel now about being corrected for mistakes I’m making. It remains a rare thing, mostly because my pride also keeps me from listening. Not only that, a few times I’ve asked for help and my request backfired. Once I asked a friend about a problem and her advice was “try harder” and not at all what I needed to hear. Self-effort (pride again) instead of trusting the Lord was causing the problem in the first place. Trying harder would increase it.

Finally, I realized that God reproves me for my sins and this is a comfort. What would I be if my Savior did not show me my faults and give me a desire to get rid of them? Of course I would rather see my own faults than have anyone else should see them, but God can use others in His work of rebuking sin to bring comfort to a soul disappointed in itself. I’ve learned:

Faithful are the wounds of a friend; profuse are the kisses of an enemy. (Proverbs 27:6)
Let a righteous man strike me—it is a kindness; let him rebuke me—it is oil for my head; let my head not refuse it…. (Psalm 141:5)

The psalmist also says he does not want to consort with evil people or listen to them or be involved in evil with them. I agree. Sin is easy, but the consequences are never worth it.

Today’s reading also says I need the Holy Spirit’s comforting all the more because I am not worthy. Christ came into the world to save sinners not good people, and my unworthiness is my greatest claim for His salvation. Note this passage (personalized) that shows His attitude toward the unworthy, and what He does about it:

For I will not contend forever, nor will I always be angry; for her spirit would grow faint before me, and the breath of life that I made. Because of the iniquity of her unjust gain I was angry, I struck her; I hid my face and was angry, but she went on backsliding in the way of her own heart. I have seen her ways, but I will heal her; I will lead her and restore comfort to her and her mourners, creating the fruit of her lips. Peace, peace, to the far and to the near,” says the Lord, “and I will heal her.” (Isaiah 57:16–19)

I’ve often said that I could not worship a God who didn’t care about my sinfulness, who didn’t love me enough to correct me. Yes, correction is often painful, and my history has made some of it hard to accept, but love changes my receptivity. I pray with a group of ladies, and one of them is particularly good at loving correction, easy to listen to because the Holy Spirit is using her to gentle tell me when I get off base. She, and others who love God’s people, bring the consolations of God that result in a far higher and better thing than the things I lose to receive them.

PRAY: Lord, sometimes correction from people still stings because I feel mocked instead of ministered to, but when You are using those stings to change my life and make me more like You, I need to welcome them, pay attention, confess the sins and welcome Your forgiveness and cleansing. Grant me the grace to be better at receiving Your loving rebukes.

Best Friends Forever

Out of hundreds of definitions of friendship, these are my favorites:

“A real friend is one who walks in when the rest of the world walks out.” – Walter Winchell

“True friendship comes when the silence between two people is comfortable.” – David Tyson

“Faithful are the wounds of a friend; profuse are the kisses of an enemy.” – Proverbs 27:6

While it goes both ways, I’m humbled and amazed that God uses that term to describe His relationship with me, a sinner. He calls me His friend, but He also calls Himself my Friend.

The OT uses a few words for friends and friendship. One of them is defined as “a person you know well and regard with affection and trust.” This describes God’s relationship with Moses in Exodus 33:11. “Thus the Lord used to speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend . . . .”

Friends bless our hearts just as Proverbs 27:9 says: “Oil and perfume make the heart glad, and the sweetness of a friend comes from his earnest counsel.” This is also true for those who are friends with the Lord; as He blesses us with sound advice, our hearts are made glad.

Another word, this time a verb, means “to have a great affection or care for or loyalty towards.” In the song Deborah & Barak sung after a decisive victory, they voiced the desire that all God’s enemies perish, but sang, “O Lord! But your friends be like the sun as he rises in his might.” (Judges 5:31) These two warriors knew that God loved them and was loyal toward them. He was their friend.

The same word is used in Proverbs 27:6. Because God loves me and is loyal toward me, I know that when He corrects me, the pain I feel is coming from a faithful friend, my God who wants the best for me, even when it hurts. He will not use flattery or false assurances when I need correcting or discipline. True friends are like that!

A third word describes “a close friendship characterized by social or emotional intimacy.” This gives the sense of never being alone, of never being unloved. As Psalm 25:14 says, “The friendship of the Lord is for those who fear him, and he makes known to them his covenant.”

NT language is less complex. It defines a friend as a person you know well and regard with affection and trust. This goes both ways but considering this is how God thinks of His people, I am in awe.

Jesus’ affection and trust in His relationship with others is described in the reaction of those who didn’t understand His loving heart. In Matthew 11:19 He says this: “The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ . . . .”

Later Jesus tells His disciples how and why He considers them as His friends. John 15:13–15 says:

Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.

How does a person have a friendship with God? James 2:23 quotes an OT verse that gives the foundation for this incredible relationship saying, “And the Scripture was fulfilled that says, ‘Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness’—and he was called a friend of God.”

GAZE INTO HIS GLORY. It begins with believing Him. He declares His existence in all that He has created. Believe it. He declares that I have sinned and fallen short of His glory. Believe it. He sent Jesus to die for my sin and give me eternal life. Believe it. Faith in Christ redeems and justifies me. Believe it. Then listen to Him, doing what He says yet also developing that relationship by spending time with Him, listening, talking, considering Him as my best Friend and realizing that He considers me His friend also.