Articles
The Blessing of Rebuke
“Better is open rebuke than love that is concealed” (Proverbs 27:5). When David tried to hide his sin with Bathsheba and Uriah, it tore him up inside. “When I kept silent about my sin, my body wasted away through my groaning all day long. (Psalm 32:3). In the Psalm, David says the solution was open confession. “I acknowledged my sin to You, and my iniquity I did not hide…and you forgave the guilt of my sin.” (v. 5) But what prompted David’s confession? What made him say, “I have sinned against the LORD” (2 Samuel 12:13)?
It was Nathan’s rebuke. When Nathan told him “You are the one!” he blessed David’s life. He needed Nathan to hold up that mirror and show him what was really going on. I’m concerned too many Christians, myself included, are afraid of rebuke and afraid to rebuke. Perhaps our culture has convinced us rebuke is “judgy” and evil. God says it’s a sign of love, and when we see a Christian in sin and refuse to point it out, we’re withholding love from them. Imagine David’s life if Nathan stayed silent! Let’s embrace the blessing of rebuke and “speak the truth in love.” (Eph. 4:15).
