I like the sentiment behind the phrase, “we learn from our mistakes”. Because when we make a mistake and are corrected, or even disciplined, our minds are able to catalogue the experience in a way that almost shoots up a “danger” sign when we are about to make the same mistake again. And since we have been disciplined, or corrected, the reminder of our punishment helps us to know what might happen if we choose to take the incorrect path. But, if we are always able to do right, we miss out on the training, or knowledge, we gain from failing. We don’t quite understand, the same way we might if we made the mistake, what consequences arise when we fail. So we are left unaware of the danger. It is kind of like when we were children and we didn’t know the dangers of fire. If we were able to experience the pain of touching fire, we would know why it is dangerous. But if we never experienced the pain of the fire, we may remain unaware of its power. That is why it says in Proverbs chapter 12, verse 1:
“Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but he who hates correction is stupid.”
It would be to our benefit if, as a species, we’d always learn from our mistakes. But there are some who reject correction. This proverb labels those individuals “stupid”, because they either resist the truth, or invite the consequences. Believers should take this proverb to heart. We should love, or at least value, discipline because if we do, we will learn from our mistakes. We should not be resistant, or hate, correction because if we do, we haven’t learned a thing.
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Discipline is not only meant to correct, or punish us, it is meant to teach us. And if we value discipline, we will be wise. I can attest that when I was a child and was punished by my parents, I thought they enjoyed giving me what I deserved, as if it were a mechanism for them to take their anger out on me. But now that I’m older, I understand that the main goal of their punishment was that I would learn and not make the same mistake again. So I would encourage you, as this proverb does, to love discipline. That is one way we can grow. That is one way we are able to allow the Holy Spirit to mold us into the people we are meant to be. Because if we are resistant, we are only being stupid.