Effective Correction

"Rebuke is more effective for a wise man than a hundred blows on a fool."

Proverbs 17:10

When it comes to cleaning products and countless other items, we want to use what is effective to do the job.  I remember as a kid cleaning the same window over and over.  It seemed no matter how many paper towels or sheets of newspaper I used, a greasy film stubbornly remained visible in direct sunlight.  Then in my adulthood I picked up a few tips watching a commercial window cleaner and noticed a completely different system in use:  instead of soggy paper and spray bottles an applicator and a squeegee was used.  This new system was better in every conceivable way because it allowed access without a ladder, took far less time, was far less labour intensive or tiring, and the superior results spoke for themselves.

Everyone would agree washing windows is far more simple and predictable than how a child will respond to the discipline of a parent or how we will handle stinging rebuke.  Christians are blessed to know the God who created mankind and gives us wisdom concerning how to humbly wield authority as we submit to Him.  Proverbs 3:11-12 says, "My son, do not despise the chastening of the LORD, nor detest His correction; ¹² for whom the LORD loves He corrects, just as a father the son in whom he delights."  Because God loves us He chastens us to correct us, and parents ought to be faithful in correcting their children in an appropriate, God-honouring manner.  He has provided us the ability to encourage, to reason with, to warn, enact consequences, and use the rod of correction in love.

It would be a great shame to cease correcting our children or to forego a needed rebuke of a friend because we are convinced it will be ineffective.  As Proverbs 17:10 points out, a rebuke or discipline may be completely ineffective--not because it is an illegitimate or foolish means of correction--but because of the foolishness in the unwilling recipient.  Parents can make the mistake of taking things too far because previous attempts have been ineffective.  Because they do not believe the message is getting through they raise the volume, and this sadly can lead to sin and abuse.  When our correction is refused, a warning ignored or a rebuke scoffed at, our own pride and folly can often be brought to light.

A hundred blows does not make a fool wise, yet the wise are revealed when they respond to rebuke without requiring them.  A child may not realise a parent corrects or displeases them out of a heart of love, and a parent or friend may not understand the receptivity (or lack thereof!) to reproof indicates the presence of wisdom and folly in the heart.  In seeking to correct others we can stand corrected, and for our negligence to speak up the LORD reproves us out of love.  Let us not lose heart when our best efforts to walk uprightly seem fruitless, for we will reap if we faint not.  The prayers of a righteous man are effective and avail much.  Praise the LORD for His patient and gentle way with us, to extend grace and mercy with warnings and correction.