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Dr RJ Sing · 1 min read
“Open rebuke [is] better than secret love”
Better is open rebuke than hidden love. Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses’ (Proverbs 27:5,6) How do you react when someone corrects you? Are you threatened and defensive, or do you receive correction with a grateful heart. God always ‘told it like it was’ to His people. He reminded Israel that she had at one time been an infant cast out of doors, bloody and naked.
It was only His concern for her that brought her to maturity, adulthood and prominence. He called her an ‘adulterous wife’ (Ezekiel 16:32) who was living like a prostitute who insisted on paying her suitors! All of this rebuke was intended to bring her back to repentance. Those who ‘whitewash’ sin and do not tell you the truth about yourself are actually contributing to your destruction. It is better to be rebuked openly if it causes your repentance and restoration. Look for ‘friends’ who are willing to ‘wound’ you with correction rather than ‘enemies’ who ‘multiply kisses’!
A friend’s courage in confronting you will produce a change in your character and may save you from eternal destruction. After all, doesn’t everyone have a blind side.
From the December 2011 issue, themed “God is the True Source of My Increase”.
