22. How does David express a fine attitude toward reproof and also show the great benefits that repentance brings?

²² In one of his psalms, David expressed the right attitude toward reproof, saying: “Should the righteous one strike me, it would be a loving-kindness; and should he reprove me, it would be oil upon the head, which my head would not want to refuse.” (Ps. 141:5) Further, in Psalm 32:1-6, David described the agonizing suffering he personally experienced due to failing to seek Jehovah’s pardon for sins committed and the blessed relief that repentance and confession to God brought him.

23. What will wise reprovers recognize, and how do the texts cited in this paragraph illustrate this?

²³ To be wise reprovers, congregational shepherds also need to keep in mind that, just as wrongdoing can vary widely in gravity, so too reproof may have a wide range of degrees of severity. (Compare Galatians 6:1; 2 Timothy 2:24-26 with Titus 1:13.) Even those who are making a fine record as servants of God may at times need reproof on some wrong viewpoint, speech or action.

24, 25. Is it possible for faithful servants of God also to need reproof, and what good results do they obtain from this?

²⁴ That was true of Peter on a later occasion. Galatians 2:11-14 relates that when he went to Antioch in Syria he fraternized with uncircumcised non-Jews, eating meals with them. But when certain men from the Jerusalem congregation (men who evidently still held to the idea of Jewish separateness) came to Antioch, Peter stopped associating with Christian Gentiles. The apostle Paul, seeing this erroneous course and its bad effects on other Jewish believers, felt obligated to reprove Peter. By sound argument he showed Peter the wrongness of his course, doing so publicly in the hearing of those present. There can be no doubt that Peter accepted this reproof and he later refers to Paul with warm appreciation.​—2 Pet. 3:15, 16.

²⁵ Yes, as Proverbs 9:8, 9 says: “Give a reproof to a wise person and he will love you. Give to a wise person and he will become still wiser.” There “should be a reproving of the understanding one, that he may discern knowledge,” as was the case with Peter. May we, then, always have our ears open to receive the wise “reproofs of discipline” that are the “way of life” to all those loving God and his righteousness.​—Prov. 19:25; 6:23; 25:12.

Reproving Persons Who Practice Sin

“Reprove before all onlookers persons who practice sin, that the rest also may have fear.”​—1 Tim. 5:20.

1, 2. What instructions did Paul give Timothy while Timothy was in Ephesus, and what questions does this raise?

WHEN counseling his fellow worker Timothy as to how he should deal with problems in Ephesus, where some were stirring up fruitless discussions and contradictory teachings, the apostle Paul included these words: “Reprove before all onlookers persons who practice sin, that the rest also may have fear.”​—1 Tim. 5:20; 1:3-7; 6:3-5.

² What did the apostle mean by ‘practicing sin’? Would engaging in some wrong more than just once automatically make one a ‘practicer’ of sin?