Friendly Rebuke
from the correctness dept.
"Open rebuke is better than secret love. Faithful are the wounds of a friend; but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful." - Proverbs 26:5-6
Sometimes we benefit from being corrected to the point of discomfort, even by our friends. We expect it from bosses or our enemies (sometimes one in the same). But when it's a loved one doing the correcting, we can take comfort in the idea that they are doing so because they love us.
In fact, it is more loving and courageous to take the time to reprove someone plainly. A flat rebuke may seem cruel, but silence really is more cruel.
Proverbs isn't the only place that suggests this notion. There are also commandments in the law:
"Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart: thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbour, and not suffer sin upon him." - Leviticus 19:17
So if we claim to follow the law, the law plainly puts the task upon us to correct one another, even if it is unpleasant.
On the other hand, if we try to avoid conflict because it makes us uncomfortable, we are engaging in secret "love" that says nothing when we face sin, we do no one any good, not even ourselves.
In addition, as Matthew Henry is quoted, "It is dangerous to be caressed and flattered by an enemy, whose kisses are deceitful. We can take no pleasure in them because we can put no confidence in them (Joab's kiss and Judas's were deceitful), and therefore we have need to stand upon our guard, that we be not deluded by them; they are to be deprecated. Some read it: The Lord deliver us from an enemy's kisses, from lying lips, and from a deceitful tongue."
Posted: Monday - May 14, 2007 at 09:56 PM |
Distractions