DIAMONDS ARE A GIRLS BEST FRIEND

So I'm doing my bible study and I come across this question:

How did you last respond to reproof - whether from an authority in your life, the bathroom scale, or an unbalanced checkbook? 

It’s a good question to consider. The last time I spent more then I could afford, I paid for it - literally. And the last time the bathroom scale reproofed (that can't possibly be a word) me, I got so depressed about it I had to go eat some ice cream before I could possibly even consider a solution. It pretty much ended there. 

Both humbling thoughts…

But it's the first part of the question that really got me thinking about the last few times someone in authority lovingly took the time to correct me. Notice the emphasis on the the word “lovingly” to clarify I am not referring to the time someone criticizes you out of turn. I am referring to the times when someone righteously rebukes you from a place of genuine caring. It's an important difference. And whoa! My answer to the question was much too obvious for comfort. I'm defensive. I really saw an ugly pattern of feeling I needed to explain myself, certain I could justify my actions if I could only make the person understand. But that's not true.

The Lord has really brought to my attention my obsessive need to defend myself. It’s not a quality from or of the Spirit. Here’s why…

 Commit your way to the LORD;
   trust in him and he will do this: 
 He will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn, 

   your vindication like the noonday sun.

             Psalm 37:5-6

The bottom line is this: If I am walking in the light, I will have no need to be defensive. The Lord will justify my actions for me. Notice it says “He” will do it.

When I get defensive, it’s because I’m lying to myself and my actions are not above reproach. And a situation will arise where I can’t deceive myself any longer, causing me to respond with trying to convince others of the lies I have already convinced myself were true. Praise God for the Holy Spirit, who brings these things into the light. Could you imagine the depravity of your soul without His perfect work?

Everyone starts out as a fool because foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child. Our response to reproof determines whether we are hardened into permanent fools or whether we become wise women. 

-Barbara K. Mouser 

To neatly wrap up the point I’m trying to make, I was really pondering this analogy. When I step on the bathroom scale and it says I have gained ten pounds, this is the reality check. This is equivalent to when a dear friend (I love you, Kristen) sits you down and says, “Honey, have you been faithful to be in the word and maintain good discipline lately? Because it’s not really showing in your attitude.” Now, my first reaction to seeing the weight gain is usually this:

“I think this scale is broken.”

“I think my hair has grown a lot these past three days, and my ponytail weighs a lot”

“I think this scale usually sits on a different place on the floor, so it might just be on uneven ground.”

“This is a joke”

“I HAVE BEEN SO EMOTIONAL LATELY!”

“I shouldn’t have taken a sip of water right before I weighed myself.”

“Curse you, coffee pastries.”

“Muscle weights more then fat.”

“Seriously, this scale is whack.”

“I’m a hippo.”

“Maybe I’ll try again, the second result will be better.”

“Maybe I grew taller…”

“It’s definitely the scale.”

This is equivalent to my defensive attitude. And for the record, I could easily come up with fifty more reasons to explain the weight gain that don’t include the fact I forgot what vegetables taste like and I’m now the gym’s most valuable customer due to the fact I pay to never visit them. Anyways, whatever reasons I convince myself are true, the facts are still plain as day. I am ten pounds heavier. (Not for real, for the record. Whoa! Defensive.)  And eventually I am going to have to stop lying to myself in order to solve the problem and in doing so become healthier. On a spiritual level, I think God spends a great deal of time bringing us to a point where he can break through our defenses (without breaking us), so he can show us how to become spiritually healthier. The process really kinda sucks, its giant fatty slice of humble pie (Oh pie! That sounds good.) but in the end, we become more like Christ. And that, dear reader, is the point.

I leave you with this thought:

The only difference in soot and diamonds is heat, pressure, and time. God says a wise woman is like a jewel. Her character is of great beauty and value because she had endured the heat and pressure of testing and training over time. A lady-of-wisdom is like a diamond which had formed under the pressure of reproof, discipline, and self-control. She grows in authority by learning to rule with skill in God's world. Out of her wisdom flows her ministry to others.