Clogging the Drain of our Soul

September, 2002

by: Dave Hintz

Marriage has been a wonderful and blessed experience for me. Not only do my shirts get ironed correctly, but my diet has been enhanced to include vegetables and other healthy staples. However, the single greatest blessing resides in the spiritual realm, namely having the dark recesses of my sinful nature exposed and revealed. One such area has been pride. This common affliction manifests itself in so many ways, from selfishness to talking about myself to minimizing my faults to others and a lack of biblical prayer. Yet, the most dangerous manifestation of pride consists of defensiveness. A defensive individual seeks to preserve a distorted portrait of themselves. They cower at criticism and are crushed by correction. They cannot stand the reality of possessing visible faults to the world. These individuals utilize the same wisdom as the man who refuses to make an appointment with the family doctor out of fear that he might find out that something is wrong. Essentially, the sin of pride manifested in defensiveness shuts out all rebukes, instruction, and correction (which is what the Word of God was given to us for cf. II Tim. 3:16-17). Subsequently, this sin clogs the drain of our soul building up a cesspool of iniquity. No other sin can possibly be addressed in our lives until we deal with defensiveness. Possessing a teachable spirit provides the solution to this spiritual plumbing problem. Proverbs 15:5 sheds insight into this situation, “A fool rejects his father's discipline, But he who regards reproof is prudent.” The fool seeks to live his life in blissful ignorance about himself and God. In contrast, wise men humble themselves with the knowledge that they do not possess all knowledge. The humble man embraces reproof and correction. The faults and imperfection of his spiritual life drive him to want to be a better man, and he finds joy in correction as the rebukes and reproofs make him wiser. As Proverbs 15:31 states, “He whose ear listens to the life–giving reproof will dwell among the wise.” Take discipline and correction seriously, don't allow your own pride to interfere with the ministry of others. We love comfort and encouragement, just like we love sugar and cream. But never forget that growing Christians need the vegetables of correction as well.