“He that refuseth instruction despiseth his own soul: but he that heareth reproof getteth understanding.” (Pr 15:32 AV)
There
are several ways to look that that first phrase above. We could look at the truth that despising
instruction is an act of self-loathing.
Or, as we will this morning, a person who rejects instruction may have
at the root a self-loathing problem. A
person with a self-loathing issue sees more value in self-destructive behavior
than they do self-sustaining behavior. They
see more advantage in destroying what they hate; that is themselves; than they
do in protecting what they hate. You
read that right. The problem is not our
opinion of ourselves. We should have a
low opinion of ourselves. There is a
difference between having a really low opinion of ourselves and
self-loathing. When we see ourselves for
what we truly are, we see the lack of value we bring to God and others. However, we do understand that with Christ as
our Savior and the work of the Holy Spirit, there is value in the life God has
graciously given. Self-loathing sees no
value and the pride of heart believes it is the responsibility of self to
destroy self that in some way, that destruction might have value. The soul that refuses instruction is
purposely trying to destroy self for the purpose of some kind of assessment of
anything of any worth.
Volunteering
in the health industry, I have come across many patients who give up hope. They do not see any value in their lives even
if there is plenty. Their health care
professionals encourage them to stick to whatever regimen is suggested for an
improved quality of life. Perhaps they
have family or friends worth living for.
Maybe they have responsibilities in the community, church, or circle of
influence which would sorely miss them if they passed away. Yet, they cannot see any value in their
present circumstances. My job as a
chaplain was to help them see what they could not see. To give them a reason to undergo suggested
treatment. My job was to help them see
that every life, no matter the circumstances, has value. This is a difficult task given circumstances that
others think are impossible. It is at
this point the patient will begin a self-evaluation and determine if their life
has any value. If they think it does
not, regardless of the truth of the matter, they will refuse instruction. They hate the circumstances of their
lives. There were also those patients
who were addicted to drugs. This is a
curse and a scourge on our land! The
trap that an addict goes down is a never-ending spiral of pleasure, guilt, self-loathing,
and ending in pleasure to cover it all.
He or she feels guilty and ashamed, but the answer too often is not forgiveness
and freedom. It is more of the same.
The
Spirit spoke to me this morning and asked me to consider if some of our
behavior isn’t so much as natural human frailty to go after sin. But rather, the idea that we know we are
worthless outside of Christ and because of that, we see no point in
trying. We see far too much of our failures
and not enough of the Spirit’s work on our lives. We only see condemnation and hardly see
commendation. We condemn ourselves more
than we praise God for what He has done.
Because of that, we refuse further instruction thinking there is no point. This is a dangerous path. This is a path that only ends one way. It ends in the self-fulfilling prophecy of
worthlessness and despair. The cure is
to remember we are the workmanship of God in Christ Jesus and He doesn’t make
junk! He had redeemed us and His work
will continue far into eternity. It
would be better if we didn’t work against Him in that which He is trying to
accomplish and start the process of praising God for all that He has done.
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