Instruction, teaching, correction, and rebuke are methods to help a person grow in character, knowledge, and sometimes wisdom. However, that is all dependent on the attitude of the supplier and receiver.
Just because I intend to help someone doesn’t mean I am wise. I need to weigh attitudes and situations. I could be well intended, but become destructive in the process.
Mockers are people with internal conflicts. They defy and renounce truth and good things, not only to their own detriment and destruction but that of others. They are provokers of others to wrong, strife, and evil. They are often wicked people though not noticeable on the outside. They demand respect while having little concern for others.
Wisdom instructs me to not correct a mocker or a wicked person. Doing so invites insult, abuse, and hate. Such were the reactions of the religious leaders to Jesus.
Flipping these verses to personal evaluations I learn that I am righteous when I am teachable. I can grow intellectually when I remember that I can learn from others. When I have a problem learning I need to examine my heart. What emotions and thoughts are keeping me from humility and self-value?
