Acts 7:57

57 But they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears and rushed together at him.
When I first look at this section I automatically think about how amazing it is that this man, Stephen, is standing up for what he believes in. The part that I tend to miss is how these people react to his words. Now that I take a closer look the part that sticks out the most to me is how it says that they closed their ears. I look back at the times that people have pulled me aside and told me about something that I did or said that was wrong. To often I have closed my ears and come up with reasons why their claims are invalid. I close my ears just like these people did and the people that are talking to me are talking to me out of love and for my own good. Proverbs 27:5 says "better is open rebuke then hidden love" My application is to remember the point of this verse day to day.