“At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16: 11)
Growing Dominion, Part 82
“Poverty and shame shall be to him that refuseth instruction: but he that regardeth reproof shall be honoured” (Prov. 13:18).
The Scriptures tell us some of the more obvious causes of poverty, like laziness, but they also pinpoint some of the lesser-known causes. Refusal to take advice is one of them. A man can be impoverished by an act of God, and no shame comes with it. Say that man’s home is destroyed by a tornado, and his insurance company rips him off, refusing to pay for it. Poverty may come to such a man, but no shame. But a man who is set on some hare-brained scheme, and refuses to listen to his friends and family—he comes not only to poverty, but also to shame.
This contrast is reinforced by the second half of the proverb. The one who is willing to listen to reproof, taking it to heart, willing to consider the possibility that he is wrong, this is a man who shall be honored. Note the contrast. The man who refuses to be dishonored through moral instruction shall be dishonored and shamed. The one who is willing to accept the “shame” of reproof is not shamed, but rather honored. Once again we see the foundational Christian principle: the first will be last, and the last first. Fragile and brittle egos do not understand this. They can only see dishonor in the dishonor of a reproof, and the only honor they can comprehend is in not ever receiving admonition. By this means, the fool comes to poverty and shame.