Listen to advice and accept discipline, and at the end you will be counted among the wise. – Proverbs 19:20 (NIV)
Hear counsel, and receive instruction, that thou mayest be wise in thy latter end. – Proverbs 19:20 (KJV)
52 Proverbs in 52 Weeks – Week 5
This week’s theme: Teachable Hearts
It sounds so easy, “Listen to advice and accept discipline,” so why is it so hard?
Have you ever dealt with someone who’s about to make a bad decision or headed down the wrong path, but absolutely refuses listen to advice or correction? Or, perhaps an even better question, have you ever been that person? I certainly have been that person more often than I’d like to admit.
Our theme for the next couple of weeks is Teachable Hearts, and this week’s verse, Proverbs 19:20, provides a perfect place to start. My wife and I talk with our kids about this often. Whether we desire to be good students, parents, musicians, athletes, artists, employees, supervisors…or just good people and loving friends…we’ve simply got to be humble enough to listen to advice and accept correction from those we trust. In other words, we’ve got to have teachable hearts.
Solomon apparently thought this message deserved particular emphasis, because he repeated it several times throughout Proverbs. Here are just a few…
let the wise listen and add to their learning, and let the discerning get guidance – Proverbs 1:5 (NIV)
Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but whoever hates correction is stupid. – Proverbs 12:1 (NIV)
A wise son heeds his father’s instruction, but a mocker does not respond to rebukes. – Proverbs 13:1 (NIV)
Teachable hearts…those with them “will be counted among the wise.”
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