Are You Stupid?

Are you stupid?

This is not a pleasant question to ask. Some might even find it offensive. But stay with me. It is easier to be stupid than you might think!

Hating correction is stupid. Not my words, but the Holy Spirit’s.

In Proverbs 12:1 the Holy Spirit describes what being stupid is like:

Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge,
but whoever hates correction is stupid.

People tend to like to choose whom they allow to offer correction. This may sound attractive but it is not a good plan. You and your children were born needing correction, discipline and training. Frankly, you and I need correction and reproof far more than we can imagine. You are in no position to reject correction just because you don’t like the way it is presented.

The consequences of not listening to correction are huge. The best way to teach your children to love correction is for you to set the example. For example, do your children constantly hear words from you like these?:

“I can’t believe so and so said that to me…”
“I don’t deserve to be corrected like that…”
“They obviously don’t understand the problem…”
“When that person starts doing the right thing then I’ll listen to them…”

If they do hear this kind of language you can expect your children to have trouble following your instruction. The stakes are too high for you not to set a great example as parent. Teach your kids that a wise person loves a rebuke. Even if the correction is not warranted, you can still receive it with grace and be an example of humility.

Your kids should hear you saying:
“Wow, God was kind enough to remind me I need to be more sensitive.”
“At first, I thought I didn’t deserve to be corrected, but I was just being prideful.”
“God used people and situations all day to help me see where I needed to change.”

In this Proverb, Solomon is recalling the words from earlier in the book. Listen to the heart-torn confession of one who hated correction and paid the awful price for being stupid:

At the end of your life you will groan,
when your flesh and body are spent.
You will say, “How I hated discipline!
How my heart spurned correction!
I would not obey my teachers
or turn my ear to my instructors.
And I have come to the brink of utter ruin
in the assembly of God’s people.”

Accepting correction is the path of humility. Teaching your kids to humbly embrace correction is the path to lead them to Christ.

Shepherd Press