Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - The Gift of Reproof | The Writings | Proverbs 15

Episode Date: October 8, 2024

Who are you becoming? Do you welcome reproof? Have you experienced the gentleness of Jesus? In today's episode, Tanya shares how Proverbs 15 encourages us to see reproof as a merciful gift that can shape our hearts and minds. Read the Bible with us in 2024! This year, we’re tackling a group of Old Testament books traditionally known as “The Writings”— Psalms, Chronicles, Proverbs, Daniel, Ruth and more! Download your reading plan now. Your support makes TMBT possible. Ten Minute Bible Talks is a crowd-funded project. Join the TMBTeam to reach more people with the Bible. Give now. Like this content? Make sure to leave us a rating and share it so that others can find it, too. Use #asktmbt to connect with us, ask questions, and suggest topics. We'd love to hear from you! To learn more, visit our website and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter @TenMinuteBibleTalks. Don't forget to subscribe to the TMBT Newsletter here. Passages: Proverbs 15

Welcome to 10-minute Bible Talks, where we connect the Bible to your life. In the time it takes to get to work. I'm Tanya Wilmuth. Who you're becoming is the story your life will tell. Yesterday, I picked up our youngest from cross-country practice, and when I picked her up, my car said it was 91 degrees. She got in the car and said, I hate cross-country. Actually, I hate math.

My geometry teacher wanted us to use a compass to turn a square into a circle today. Isn't that dumb? And why are we running when it's this hot? Running when I'm frustrated about math is terrible. I was like, oh, yeah, sister, I get you. I don't know, guys, if your brains work like this, but for us girls, when we're frustrated, everything relates to everything else, and it all ties together. Math, geometry, heat, running, it's everyone's fault. Rewind 24 hours, and she felt really good about running after just finishing a race. Geometry, eh, not so much. But in this moment, she won it and out. Could she quit cross-country?

Could she not go to practice tomorrow? Could she change her math class? Not to diminish middle school at all. But unfortunately, for her, we also have kids in high school and college and we know it only gets more intense. So we're probably not going to reach in and save her. Help, yes. Listen for sure. Advocate if necessary, absolutely.

What I said was, hey, I'm totally okay being with you in your discomfort. Tell me all about it. Gia Lang created a web-based resource called 100 Days of Rejection Therapy. See, he set out to find a middle ground between his former paralyzing fear of rejection and also his also former embarrassing unawareness of overconfidence. He thought, surely there has to be a middle ground that is better than either of those options. So he made a list of 100 things he would do for 100 days to get over his fear of rejection. and also grow in humility.

You can look it up and you can see the whole list and you can hear his TED talk. But get this. He says on day three, his life changed just three days in. See, he walked into a crispy cream and he asked the donut maker for donuts that looked like Olympic rings. He was sure they would say no. But he was shocked that they actually took him seriously. The donut maker drew a diagram for him to approve and 15 minutes later he was holding

a box with red, white, and blue Olympic ring-shaped donut. nuts. So Zhang posted the video to YouTube and got 5,000 views in a few hours. He was asked to talk shows, he had media interviews. He couldn't believe it. He said, you know, because of that, I was in newspapers, in talk shows, in everything. And I became famous. A lot of people started writing emails to me saying, what you're doing is awesome. But you know, fame and notoriety did not do anything to me. What I really wanted to do was learn and to change myself. So I turned the rest of my 100 days of rejection into this playground, into this research project. I wanted to see what I could learn. What he learned was that the sting of rejection goes away when we don't run. Rejection is actually a great teacher. You learn

about yourself and about others. When you get rejected and you choose to engage or stick around, the discomfort becomes more natural. Like a good friend, instead of an unwelcome one. In our current study, Proverbs, we're talking about growing in wisdom. One of the words that is often repeated in this book is reproof. In Proverbs 15, our chapter for the day, we see the words stated explicitly five times and referred to even more.

Reproof is not a welcome thing necessarily. It's actually a scolding. It's a rebuke. It doesn't have a positive ring to it. I mean, who wants to be reproved? If you've been through it, you know it's painful. You also know that it can be a transition point where you can either dismiss it, you can hate the person who reproved you, and you can actually become the fool you claim not to be by pointing fingers

outward and letting bitterness and anger be the main characters of your story, or you can learn from it. You can actually sit in the discomfort of self-reflection, you can actually grow in real humility, maybe even forgiveness that comes from struggle, and you can become more empathetic and wise. In Proverbs 15, we see three dimensions of reproof. We see that it is painful, that it can be life-giving, and that it should be welcomed. Let's start where we can all agree. Reproof is painful. Proverbs 1510 says, there is severe discipline for him who forsakes the way. Whoever hates reproof will die. It is painful to hear severe words and receive discipline. Our natural instinct is to hate the message and hate the messenger even more. But discipline in biblical terms is good for us.

The Bible says God's discipline is reserved for those he loves. There's something so loving and having a father that cares enough to let uncomfortable circumstances like struggle and rejection and even harsh words into our lives so we can grow. Now in Isaiah 1-5, the prophet asks, Why will you still be struck down? Why will you continue to rebel? The whole head is sick and the whole heart faint. See, he's asking, why do these painful experiences you've been through not make an impact on you? And then he answers himself, well, it's because your minds are closed. The first thing we learn about reproof is that every painful experience is a way for our hearts to become

more discerning. How have you seen your mind open by struggle or reproof? How do you want God to open your mind through your current struggle? Now, reproof doesn't just open our minds. It opens our hearts. It's a life-giving discipline. Proverbs 15-5 says, A fool despises his father's instruction,

but whoever heeds reproof is prudent. Some of us have earthly fathers that were wiser than others. But when we look at this verse with Psalm 10-11, we see that God our father is the one whose instruction and reproof is always perfect and always life-giving. When we do not follow His word, we need reproof so that we can be put back on the path of life. The psalm says, some sat in darkness and in the shadow of death, prisoners in affliction and in irons,

for they had rebelled against the words of God and spurned the counsel of the Most High. Now, there's nothing worse than rejecting words of life. God allows circumstances, and he also puts people in our lives to help us course correct to the path of life. Let's say you're dating someone who isn't a believing Christian, and you're thinking about getting married. Someone who hopefully loves you and cares about you asks, hey, is he? or she following Jesus, or maybe even more boldly, they say, are you interested in talking about

what it looks like to marry someone who isn't your spiritual brother or sister? How do you respond? Do you find a way to get angry because they didn't say it right, or their timing was bad? Or do you find something about that person that disqualifies them from asking you that hard question? See, the second thing we learn about reproof is that the keys to wisdom are locked in the instruction we receive, only if we're willing to learn from it. Perhaps this is why the Proverbs tell us we should welcome reproof. Our natural tendency is to surround ourselves with supporters and encouragers, but then we're likely the one described in Proverbs 1512. A scoffrey does not like to be reproved. He will not go to the wise. We actually need truth tellers. They can be encouraging truth

tellers, but we need to look for those who actually want to help us grow. Proverbs 1514 says, the heart of him who has understanding seeks knowledge, but the mouths of fools feed on folly. And then verse 22, without counsel plans fail, but with many advisors, they succeed. Psalm 1-1 also talks about the blessed man, the one who doesn't walk in the counsel of the wicked or sit in the seat of scoffers, which we just learned is the one who doesn't like to be reproved, but finds delight in the law of the Lord and meditates on it day and night. A discerning heart isn't given by ease. It's created.

It's curated. It's crafted through the experiences where reproof is received. Why does it have to be this way? Why can't our lives be linear without the highs and lows? Well, Proverbs 15 versus 31, 32, and 33 explain why. They say the ear that listens to life-giving reproof will dwell among the wise. Whoever ignores instruction despises himself. But he who listens to reproof,

intelligence. The fear of the Lord is instruction in wisdom and humility comes before honor. Our lives are not linear because if they were, our confidence and hope would be in ourselves and not in the Lord. Our greatest fear would be personal failure instead of rejection from the Lord. Jesus is the reason we can face reproof. Hebrews 5-2 says, He can deal gently with the ignorant and wayward, that's us, since he himself is beset with weakness. Because of this, he is obligated to offer sacrifice for his own sins just as he does for those of the people. See, Jesus took on failure that wasn't even his. He took on complete humility to give us honor. In his book, Gentle and Lonely, Dane Ortland wrote this. He said, what elicits tenderness from Jesus

is not the severity of the sin, but whether the sinner comes to him. Whatever our offense, he deals gently with us. If we never come to him, we will experience judgment so fierce, it will be like a double-edged sword. If we do come to him, as fierce as his lion-like judgment would have been against us, so deep will his lamb-like tenderness be for us. We will be enveloped in one or the other. To no one will Jesus be neutral. We have a choice. To look at the reproof and hate it or hate the person giving to us. To look at the frustration and run away from it. to be enveloped in our overwhelm and our anger and our sorrow. Or look to Jesus. Look at His holiness.

Run into his gentle arms. Be enveloped in his security and safety. Which one will you choose today?