The more we learn to allow others to speak the Word to us, to accept humbly and gratefully even severe reproaches and admonitions, the more free and objective will we be in speaking ourselves. The person whose touchiness and vanity make him spurn a brother's earnest censure cannot speak the truth in humility to others; he is afraid of being rebuffed and of feeling that he has been aggrieved. The touchy person will always become a flatterer and very soon he will come to despise and slander his brother. But the humble person will stick both to truth and to love. He will stick to the Word of God and let it lead him to his brother. Because he seeks nothingfor himself and has no fears for himself, he can help his brother through the Word. (Bonhoeffer, Dietrich. "Life Together." San Francisco, CA: Harper Collins. 1954 p106-107)
This morning I was rebuked by someone I didn't know (and so I don't know if she was a sister or not), and recalled these words of Bonhoeffer. I need reminders like this of how to receive rebuke - both for myself, and to teach Elisabeth how to receive rebuke.
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