Prove your wisdom

In the film Spanglish, Flor, the housekeeper, confronts Adam Sandler's character. He's interfered in her family, she says, full of righteous indignation. He then tells her that she's done the same thing. She challenges him, and he shows her what she's done to intrude into his family's relationships.

In a telling moment (I think this is where he starts to fall in love with her), she stops and says, "You're right. I did interfere." What a great illustration of today's reading from Proverbs!

"Whoever corrects a mocker invites insult;
whoever rebukes a wicked man incurs abuse.
Do not rebuke a mocker or he will hate you;
rebuke a wise man and he will love you.

Proverbs 9:7-8

Sandler's character (the husband of Flor's employer) does a great thing for Flor: rather than write her off as a scoffer, he treats her as a wise woman by giving her a needed reproof.

On her side, she demonstrates her wisdom by accepting his reproof and acknowledging her fault.

Wnat about me? When confronted, do I hate my interlocutor, or am I grateful for the correction? Do I confront scoffers? Do I refrain from rebuking the wise?

What makes it easy or hard to accept correction? If I feel like I need to be right in your eyes, that will make it hard for me to accept reproof or correction from you. If, on the other hand, I already know I'm sometimes wrong, if I know that God loves me no matter what, and if I know that God has given you wisdom and that you're created in His image (in other words, if I'm wise!), that will make it easier.

May the Lord help us to discern the scoffers from the wise, and may he help us to become the latter.