“12Apply you heart to instruction and your ear to words of knowledge.” – Proverbs 23:12 (ESV) “9Do not speak in the hearing of a fool, for he will despise the good sense of your words.” – Proverbs 23:9 (ESV)
When I was reading this morning about discipline, these verses stood out. I know, I have written them verses in reverse order from how they appear in God’s Word. They make sense to me this way.
It all starts with instruction and discipline. When we are disciplined, we are able to apply the instruction of God in our lives. We understand and continually work to obey God’s commands to keep us on the path he has prepared for us.
With the instruction and discipline comes our ability to know what to listen to and what to avoid. When we are focused on true knowledge, we are able to avoid the doing things that are not beneficial, like speaking to someone who does not want to listen anyway.
I know it is difficult to avoid someone who is not listening. We want to be sure that they hear the truth. But, they don’t want the truth, they feel as though they are all set. We can still witness to them with our actions and be the example of Christ by providing love for them, however we are only wasting our breath when trying to explain and speak the truth.
How have you fared when trying to get through to someone that did not want to hear? We have a path provided by God, are we trying to bring others on our path or are we a part of their path as provided by God? What would happen if we were to apply discipline and avoid wasting our breath?
Trevor's Thoughts 