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12/3/2009 - Beautiful Criticism Proverbs 29:1
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Beautiful Criticism
REFERENCE: Proverbs 29:1 Whoever stubbornly refuses to accept criticism will suddenly be destroyed beyond recovery.
Observation: None of us like criticism. It hurts. It’s hard. It makes us feel bad. Yet it is this very criticism that, sometimes, is essential to our growth. The reason it is so dangerous to refuse it, is that the criticism may be a great form of protection for us. It may be that we are on the way to making a disastrous decision and the only thing standing in the way is this critique. How much better to receive it and avoid the disaster?
A wise person once suggested that the way to deal with critical remarks is to handle them like gum: chew it until you get all the flavor out of it and then spit it out. That metaphor captures the yen and yang of being criticized: we have to learn how to gain from it without letting it defeat us. We must learn to do both things well: receive the value of the critique and yet not rumminate on it too long and too much so that false criticism (or even the true type--too long lingered over) becomes a source of discouragement and disabling.
Application/Confession: I need to remember not to become defensive when I receive a critique, especially from those closest to me. They really do love me and want my best. I would be wise to listen even when it hurt.
PRAYER: Dear God, thank You for putting people in my way that will warn me away from a disastrous decision. Help me to respond by listening and changing when I need to.
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