April 26, 2023
Passage Read: Proverbs 26-29
Meditation Verse: 28:23
Thought
This doesn't always feel true, but if I really care about people and see them going astray, I have to warn them. This proverb assures me that those who rebuke honestly will receive more favor in the end than those who flatter. Maybe not right at the start or even for a time, but when the one rebuked realizes that the one who rebuked genuinely cared for them, they'll realize they have a better friend in the one who rebuked them than the one who told them what they wanted to hear. Flattery is self-serving, rebuke serves the other.
Application
I don't like to be rebuked and I don't like to rebuke others, but if I am going astray, I do wish someone would try to save me from my bad decisions. If I wish for a friend like that, I should also try to be a friend like that.