will suddenly be broken beyond healing.
Proverbs 29:1 (NRSV)
It made me think that being wise may not mean that you know everything. But it can also mean that you are able to take reproof. Knowing something takes the brain, but taking reproof takes willingness from the heart. It takes humility and courage to accept reproof.
Being reproved can be thought of as a neutral event. Often we are taught what is right and wrong through reproof. Otherwise we may be ignorant and continue in our ignorance if no one takes the trouble to reproof us.
But if we grow stubborn against reproof then we will never remove our own foolishness and it is inevitable that one day we will find ourselves broken beyond healing. It could be in the form of rejection from man or rejection from God. That's the sad ending and the heavy cost to stubbornness.
God often reproved the Israelites through His prophets saying they are stiff-necked people. Sadly His repeated reproofs fell on deaf ears and the people did not heed the warning and turn back to God. The stubborn hearts of the Israelites sealed their fate and they were eventually conquered by foreign nations.
King Saul is famous for refusing to admit wrong when reproved by prophet Samuel (1 Sam 13:11ff). After repeatedly refusing to change his ways, he was rejected by God at the end. This is a sad ending for any person and more so for the first king God chose for Israel.
Instead we must learn from King David. Prophet Nathan minced no words when reproving the king (2 Sam 12:7-12) after his mistake. But David responded not with human nature (by trying to distance himself from the wrong); instead, his first sentence was simply, "I have sinned against the Lord." To utter such a statement with no qualifiers marks his full acceptance of the reproof. King David avoided brokenness beyond healing by taking reproof instead of refusing it.
For any of us as human beings, being reproofed is never a pleasant feeling. However when a person can lower his defensive mechanism and humble himself to accept reproof, he may find himself in a very different place. Instead of finding himself in the hopeless place of brokenness without healing, he may find new hope, mercy and healing.