Question of the Day: Can you handle criticism?

Greetings in Christ Jesus, Fellow Soldiers.

One of the great British preachers of the 20th century, Martyn Lloyd Jones, distinguished meekness from humility in this way: meekness is humility before others. It is one thing to say "I suck"--it is quite another for another person to say that I suck. Then I bristle and get defense and think "You don't even know me!"

Younger people have developed particularly thin skin when handling criticism. They are often raised with self-esteem boosting lines--"You're special." "There's no one like you." "Just have faith in yourself and you can accomplish anything."--even with they are totally out of accord with reality.

Thus, when many people hear criticism, they respond with the same childish attitude that I do--whether it is verbalized or not.

But the reality is that we are always worthy of criticism. Even if the criticism is largely wrong or misdirected, it should at least be considered. Maybe it's the tool that God is using to expose sin in your life, even if it is not the one mentioned by your critic. It's at least worth your time and prayer.

So if you are being attacked or criticized, agree with your critic or at least concede that their criticisms are at least worth looking at. Remember Jesus, who being perfect did not open His mouth to defend Himself before Pilate (Matt. 27:14; Is. 53:7). He took the scorn and abuse of sinners in order to save some. We are not Jesus and are sinners ourselves, but we can rejoice in our salvation in Him, swallow our pride, and consider that sometimes our best defense of the Gospel comes with giving no defense of ourselves.