Proverbs 19:11
The wise are patient;
they will be honored if they ignore insults [offenses].
The wise are not quick to respond angrily to someone.
God is slow to take offense [Ex.34:6; Mic.7:18], and we are to become like Jesus, who perfectly showed us YHWH.
If you are easily, quickly offended, and regularly respond in anger, you are not showing Christ, plain and simple. Growing into Christ likeness entails that are growing in “unoffendableness.” If you’ve not grown or are not growing in this area, it would be wise to check yourself. It’s a good signpost that something is off. Growth is stunted somewhere, somehow.
Proverbs 19:20
Listen to advice and accept correction,
and in the end you will be wise.
You do not become wise overnite! And it only comes after much correction. Correction doesn’t exactly feel like a soft, cozy blankey, but it is necessary. Accept this, stay on the path, and you will mature steadily. I always advise people that it’s better to workout for even just 15 minutes a day, everyday, than it is to do the 2 hour mega workout only once per week or so.
Most progress comes from what we do day in day out. Think of how easy the skill of driving a car is! You don’t even have to think about it. The power of habit…What if you read the same passage of Scripture everyday for a month? What if you practiced some discipline like complimenting three people everyday, or wrote down three things you’re thankful for every morning? Or prayed a prayer of committing your day to God upon waking everyday?
Proverbs 19:27
Don’t stop listening to correction, my child,
or you will forget what you have already learned.
We need constant reminding of truth because we are not only forgetful, but truth is snatched from us by the evil one in so many forms.
Becoming like Christ is a continual process over our lifetime.
We do not reach a point where no more instruction is necessary.
John 13:3
Jesus knew that the Father had given him authority over everything and that he had come from God and would return to God.
“Jesus has perfect self-esteem:he knows of God’s love expressed in his origin and destinyand therefore can relinquish human status to become a servant.”
John 13:4-11
He washed their feet, the work of a humble servant.
The eternal Word of God who was there in the beginning, creating the cosmos, stoops down to wash people’s dirty feet.
This is beyond words.
And this is what we are to emulate, to follow the pattern of.
An apprentice of Jesus serves people. There is no way around this. Who are you serving? How do you “stoop?”
John 13:35
“This is how everyone will know you are my disciples, by your love for one another.”
Sometimes it is helpful to think of what Jesus did not say here:
Everyone will know you’re my disciples if you judge each other.
…if you condemn one another
…if you resent each other
…if you compete against each other
…if you talk about each other
…if you defame other Christians
and on and on…