I don’t like correction. There I said it. I like to be right. More importantly, I like it even more when you think I am right.
By openly admitting these things I have also shown a propensity for stupidity. This is but another reminder of the danger of being wise in my own eyes. If I care most about being right, I care most about myself. This is not wisdom but stupidity.
If I am to learn, I must first love discipline and rebuke. When I recoil at the correction and rebuke of those closest to me, I make myself weak. Instead of trying to find a way to challenge a rebuke, God wants me to first learn from that rebuke. Why is my child or my spouse angry with me? It is easy to say that they are wrong. It is harder to say, what is my part in this. Am I really stupid enough to think that my actions are wise, loving and perfect, so much so that no one could think badly of me?
Learning from a correction or a rebuke, even if it is out of place, means that I care more about serving God and others than I do about myself. That is a good thing.
Being defensive is stupid, it means I have noting to learn. The reality is that I have more to learn than I can ever imagine! If those whom you love have a hard time taking with you, perhaps the problem may have more to do with you than with them.
Think about it.
To learn, you must love discipline;
it is stupid to hate correction.
Proverbs 12:1
One thought on “I Don’t Like Correction!”
A lot of difficult conversations wouldn’t be so difficult if our natural self-defense attorneys took a permanent vacation. It’s pure pride to believe we don’t need correction, regardless of from where or whom it comes.