Criticism and Correction
A lot of us like to criticize other people, but we don't like being criticized ourselves. Many of us don't even like to be corrected when we are doing the wrong thing, or we are doing the right thing in the wrong way. It is very detrimental for us to react negatively to criticism and correction. We ought to want to be growing to be like Jesus more every day, so we should take criticism and correction very seriously, so we know what we need to do to be more holy.
The Bible gives us a clear admonition in these two areas that we all need to hear and to heed. (Proverbs 13:18) "If you ignore criticism, you will end in poverty and disgrace; if you accept correction, you will be honored." That is a very simple verse, but its meaning is profound. Do we want to end in poverty and disgrace, or do we want to be honored? The choice is up to us, and it is not that difficult to have a good ending instead of a bad one. Let's think about it a minute.
I know that not all criticism is valid. Sometimes, we are criticized for something we didn't do or say. At other times the criticism is only designed to hurt us, not to help us, so that makes it harder to hear. However, whenever we are criticized, we need to stop and ask ourselves if there is anything valid in what is being said about us. It might be something small, but whatever it is, we should correct it, and we should be thankful for the criticism, not upset about it. Then, we will be able to correct our flaws and sins, so we avoid poverty and disgrace.
When we are corrected by another person, we need to gladly accept the correction. This is especially true when it comes from a godly person who is genuinely concerned about our relationship with the Lord. However, even when we are corrected by people who do not have our best interests at heart, we need to receive the correction and pray for God to show us if there is something we need to do, so we can live fully in His way and be more like Jesus. He will show us if that is the case. But if we reject the correction, our flaws will persist, and we will not be honored.
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Tomorrow, I intend to read Proverbs 14-16.