Kind Correction

“Let the righteous smite me; [it shall be] a kindness: and let him reprove me; [it shall be] an excellent oil, [which] shall not break my head: for yet my prayer also [shall be] in their calamities.” (Ps 141:5 AV)

This verse, although it might seem a bit uncomfortable, is actually just the opposite.  Correction is coming.  It comes from all directions.  Babylon and Assyria were used in correcting Israel.  Yet they were not righteous.  God uses various means to correct the saints.  The kindest of all is from the righteous.  The writer knows that when correction comes, and it will come, it is better if it comes from the righteous than from any other source.  Note also the willingness of the one needing reproof.  Twice he uses the word ‘let’.  Twice he opens his heart to the possibility of kind correction.  This has application to both the one needing reproof and the one giving reproof.

For the one needing reproof, this is an easy one.  We know that correction is part of life.  We learn in many ways, and the hard way is most often the common way.  What we do find difficult is being that righteous friend who will intervene and say something that can help a friend.  We don’t like to be confrontational.  We don’t like to be the one person who makes someone uncomfortable.  We see reproof as ending unsavorily, which breaks the friendship we once had.  So, the individual who needs help continues on and suffers because we are too afraid to say something.  The key is that one little word used twice.  Let.  The humble heart of the one needing reproof determines if reproof is offered.  By surrendering to correction from the heart of a righteous saint, the erring one has opened the door to receiving correction.  The challenge is to be that person that will offer it.

I feel for doctors.  They are underappreciated.  We visit them with the understanding that they must offer critical opinions of how we live our lives.  Next month, I will have my yearly physical.  I am sure my blood work will come back telling the tale of someone who needs to make changes.  I will be told to exercise more, diet, and cut back on sugar.  Drinking more fluids will also be discussed.  I will be prepared beforehand, knowing there will be no stickers on my report card.  Yet, what is the usual response?  We should thank the doctor.  We should appreciate all the schooling he or she went through for the opportunity to tell us to shape up.  Most of us don’t.  We leave with a bit of skepticism or scoffing.  He or she is only doing a job they are called to.  They offer their advice because they care.  However, if we go in with the understanding that we need to hear the bad with the good and that we are grateful for the input, our reaction will be much different.  When we are children, we welcome criticism because we want to learn and improve.  Once pride sets in, it is harder to take.  We need to be that person who is willing the hear hard things.  But we also need to be that person that offers hard things as well.