“You suck.” “No you suck”

D

Proverbs 9:8

So parenting again has laid a golden egg. The most ironic thing that I have found in life is that while I am trying to teach my kids things, I am finding that I really need to learn them myself. There have been several really good personal things, but the biggest thing right now is getting him to listen to correction.

The hilarious thing about teaching my son this is that I need to learn this FAR more than he does. The typical reaction that I have to a well placed rebuke or correction whether it comes from my wife, a friend or a direct stranger is to be defensive and often point out the flaws in their character. Conversations like this, especially among Christian men, usually boils down to “You suck”, “No you suck.” Or put more Biblically, “You have a log in your eye.” “Oh yeah, well you have a speck”.

This keeps us from being wise. I was actually really humbled by how many times Proverbs harps on this and yet my willingness to listen to correction and rebuke humbly and earnestly is weak at best. How much stronger would the church be if we put this into action. How much more sin could we be made aware of if we would only listen.

My son needs to learn this, but good grief, we could all use a dose of it as well, I being the foremost.