Rebuke the wise
Wisdom on receiving correction
Do not reprove a scoffer, the proverb advises, or he will hate you; reprove a wise person, and he will love you. Here is a test that reveals character in an instant: how someone responds to correction. The fool resents the one who corrects him; the wise person is grateful, even affectionate, toward the one who told him the truth. You can tell a great deal about a person — and about yourself — by the response to a rebuke.
This works in two directions for a leader. First, it is a diagnostic for others: watch how people take correction, and you learn who is wise and who is not, who is worth investing reproof in and who will only hate you for it. Second, and more searchingly, it is a mirror. How do you respond when someone rebukes you? With defensiveness and resentment, like the scoffer? Or with gratitude, like the wise, loving the one who cared enough to tell you the truth? The leader who can receive a rebuke and love the rebuker has the teachability that all growth requires.
“Let the righteous strike me, it is kindness; let him reprove me, it is like oil on the head.”
— David, welcoming rebuke — Psalm 141:5 (WEB)
Response to correction reveals character. The wise love the one who rebukes them; the fool resents him. It is both a diagnostic for others and a mirror for yourself.
“Don't reprove a scoffer, lest he hate you. Reprove a wise person, and he will love you.”
The proverb makes the response to rebuke a test of wisdom. A leader formed here cultivates the teachability to love correction, not resent it. The inner work is receiving a rebuke with gratitude rather than defensiveness.
Watch how people take correction to learn who is teachable and worth investing reproof in. More importantly, receive rebukes yourself with gratitude. Model the teachability that loves the one who tells the truth.
Leaders pride themselves on giving correction while bristling at receiving it. The blind spot is being a scoffer toward one’s own rebukers while demanding others take correction well.
Recall the last time someone corrected you. This week, thank them genuinely, and practice receiving the next rebuke with gratitude.
How someone responds to correction reveals their character in an instant: the fool resents the one who corrects him; the wise are grateful. It is also a mirror.
How do you respond when someone rebukes you — do you resent them, or love them for it?