Proverbs 27:17 Iron sharpens iron, So one man sharpens another.
Allow me to briefly reference what I said in our previous article. Criticism is one of the most misunderstood instances in our lives. Not all criticisms are the same. Not all criticisms are coming from honest, pure, and godly motives. Some of them are purely selfish, evil, and sinful. This kind of criticism lacks in spiritual wisdom and it does nothing to help. It is aimed at lifting ourselves up to appear “spiritual” and yet, there is a clear lack of wisdom, understanding, and truthfulness.
Being humble and showing humility in giving criticism goes a long way. If there are times when you are excited about dishing out corrections, that might a sign that pride is the driving force behind your correction. Recognizing this can be challenging if we are already deceived into thinking that we are the ones in the right. We need to consider the reality that we may very well be in the wrong.
What about when receiving criticism? Think about it in this way – what do you think would happen if someone comes to us with constructive criticism and we already assume that we need to be corrected? Consider Proverbs 12:15 “the way of the fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man is he who listens to counsel.” It is dangerous for us to believe that we are never wrong. If we believe that we are better off without people who can see things in our lives that we are blind to – we are sorely mistaken. It is foolish to believe that we can’t be corrected. Even on our best day, we need the grace of God.
As mentioned above, there needs to be humility when giving correction, but also encouragement. People think differently than one another. Some people feel discouraged when they are corrected. God knew what He was doing when he made us. There are many instances in scripture where we are told to encourage each other but consider these two passages as we close out the article for today.
Col 4:6 Let your speech always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt, so that you will know how you should respond to each person.
Ephesians 4:29 Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear.
by Lee Elkins
