Slap Yourself

 If thou hast done foolishly in lifting up thyself, or if thou hast thought evil, lay thine hand upon thy mouth.
Proverbs 30:32

We often view slapping someone as a humiliating form of correction. And I believe Agur viewed it in the same manner. He warns us to correct ourselves when we have done foolishly or thought evil. What a concept: self-correcting discipline! Maybe if we corrected ourselves, God would not have to punish us for our wrong doing!

The first step of correction is recognizing the error of our ways. Which is followed by correction. While Agur's suggestion of slapping ourselves may work, I can't imagine seeing people walking around slapping themselves each time they do wrong. Many of us would never get anything done but slapping ourselves and walking around with puffy cheeks!

However, there is a more subtle and effective method to correct our errors - prevention and elimination. Prevention is achieved by studying and following God's plan for our behavior in the Bible. Elimination is achieved by seeking His forgiveness. The choice is yours - repeatedly slap yourself or seek Him.