Proverbs 15:5

Proverbs 15:5 "A fool despiseth his father's instruction: but he that regardeth reproof is prudent."

Solomon's proverbs are more than bold statements stemming from basic observations in life.  They're thought-provoking sentences that rely on two very different statements to take the mind to deep thought.  Solomon designed his proverbs to move the eyes of his reader back and forth between two different statements in order to draw personally convicting conclusions.  He knew that a person benefits from truth the most when that person comes to some conclusion on their own.  If someone does all the thinking for us, we lack conviction.  If someone does all the thinking for us, we lack a personal investment in that truth.  The best teachers do more than spit out facts - they lay down mental bread crumbs for their students to get invested and come to their own conclusions but with the right conclusion.  The different statements within the proverbs are like paint swatches for our eyes to go back and forth over and over until we come to some personal conclusion of truth.  They're like a woman holding up two different dresses in the mirror over and over so she can come to some solid decision on what looks good and what doesn't look good.  The proverbs are not meant to just be memorized and repeated.  They're meant to be considered with eyes going back and forth in order to produce deep thought and a personal conclusion about what really is being said.

In the case of this proverb, it's not enough to know what is said.  Simply reciting this proverb isn't personal enough.  Discovering what is not said by deep thought and prayerful consideration becomes very personal and that is what has the most impact on our lives.  Let us always ask ourselves when reading the proverbs, “what does this really mean and how does it really apply to me?”

On the front end of the proverb, we see a fool loathing his father's instruction while on the back end, we see a prudent man considering reproof from someone.  As usual, this proverb has two different types of people responding differently to two different scenarios.  Our eyes are supposed to go back and forth to these two different images, swatches and outfits.  From fool to prudent and back to fool.  From despising to regarding and back to despising.  From instruction to reproof and back to instruction.  Solomon isn't telling us what to do or what not to do - he's just sharing two observations about two different people in two different scenarios.  The Bible isn't commanding or demanding anything in this proverb - it is just defining and describing two different types of people in two different scenarios.  How does this apply to us and what are we to learn from this proverb?

By going back and forth between the two observations, we can see that a fool can't even handle instruction let alone reproof.  We can also see that, if a prudent person can handle reproof, he must be able to accept instruction.  Instruction isn't nearly as hard for the human spirit to accept as reproof.  Instruction is being told how we can do something right whereas reproof is being told how we did something wrong.  A fool hates being told how to do something right.  He can't stand anyone, including his own father telling him anything.  He wants to figure everything out on his own.  He doesn't like anyone acting like an authority in his life, whether that's a parent, teacher, coach, pastor, supervisor or even an expert at some task he has to do.  A fool can't stand anyone telling him anything from how to be good spouse to what to wear to how to treat an illness.  He likes to be in total control of his life.  He doesn't like anyone thinking or suggesting he doesn't know how to do something.  The sad irony is that a fool, which by definition is someone who lacks wisdom, thinks he's smarter than everyone else.  For a fool, instruction is a waste of time and worse, an attack on his intellect.  For a fool, instruction implies a lack of intelligence and he believes he can figure anything and everything out on his own.
 
Nothing is mentioned about a prudent man's feelings about instruction but because we see him dealing with reproof, we should properly conclude that he embraces instruction if he's accepting reproof.  As already stated, instruction is a lot easier to stomach than reproof.  Prudence is the virtue of looking down the road and preparing for danger.  Prudence values instruction because it is precisely what helps a person avoid unnecessary danger and risk in the future.  Solomon doesn't tell us that the prudent love reproof.  He doesn't tell us that the prudent cherish being told why or how they did something wrong.  He only tells us that the prudent "regard" reproof, meaning they don't dismiss it.  To regard something is to REpeatedly GUARD or keep something.  This is why the psalmist said, "If I REGARD iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me" (Ps. 66:18).  A prudent soul is more concerned about their safety than their self-esteem.  A prudent man is more concerned about being spiritually-successful than being seriously respected.  A prudent woman is more concerned about God thinking highly of her than others thinking highly of her.  A prudent person is more concerned about doing good than looking or feeling good.  No one likes being reproved but only the prudent can look past the temporary discomfort in order to permanently benefit.  No one likes being told that they're wrong but only the prudent can look beyond the momentary shame in order to permanently gain.

This proverb shows us a fool hating simple instruction on the left side and a prudent person hanging on to uncomfortable reproof on the right side.  After looking back and forth at the two pictures, it is our job to do more than memorize and recite them.  After looking back and forth at the two images, it is our job to draw conclusions that will then settle more deeply in our minds.  We should draw the conclusion that if we hate being told what to do, we'll never accept and remember being told what we did wrong.  We should draw the conclusion that if we can't handle another man or woman telling us how to do something, we'll never handle another man or woman telling us how to fix what we did wrong.  Reproof is hard to stomach but given its memorable discomfort, it can save us a lot of future pain and sorrow if we can accept it.  If we have a hard time with instruction, reproof will never help us because we'll do everything in our might to resist and forget it.  Rather than hang on to reproof, we'll do everything possible to discredit and destroy reproof.  We'll drown out the reproof with accusations and attacks.  We'll dismiss the reproof with self-justification and self-righteousness.  We'll destroy the reproof by destroying the relationship from which it came.  

This proverb is much more than the descriptions of the fool being instructed and the prudent being reproved.  This offers us more than the ability to discern the difference between some distant fool and some distant prudent soul.  This is meant to get us thinking about how we handle instruction and reproof.  If we don't value and appreciate instruction, we'll never value reproof on any level.  If we hate people telling us what to do, we're in deep trouble because that reveals foolishness in us.  If we want to avoid repeating the same mistakes in life, we need the prudence necessary to hang on to those hard words of reproof that come from various people in our life.  If we want to spiritually-succeed in the long-run, we need the character and virtue necessary to keep the echo of reproof in our heart.  If we work hard to dismiss reproof, we'll likely repeat the same mistakes.
 
The prudent are too concerned about their long-term success to cater to their short-term satisfaction.  They understand that the reproofs of men may not be fair or entirely accurate but they don't disregard any of them.  They don't like any reproof from any man or woman but they know that only a fool would entirely disregard them.  A prudent person has a mental filing cabinet of criticism, reproof, rebuke, complaint and unsolicited assessment from others that he goes back to throughout his life to see if there is any validity or application in those things for which he can learn from in order to spiritually-succeed.  On the other hand, a fool burns and shreds any potential outside insight that reproof offers because he hates even the most basic instruction.  He has no such filing cabinet in his mind; he only has pictures of himself honoring the great and intelligent person he thinks he is.  Certain failure and spiritual doom await such a fool.

Let this proverb be about us, not just some unnamed fool and his unidentified prudent counterpart.  Let this and all proverbs be a matter of personal conviction as a result of drawing an appropriate unwritten conclusion.