Criticism

This has been a tough one for me lately. It's hard realizing that no matter how hard I try to seek approval, help others, or meet others needs, sometimes people seem to have their own opinion of what and who I am and that opinion sometimes varies greatly from my opinion of myself. Not that I think I'm amazing or great or anything, but I have a hard time accepting criticism. I don't like trying to help people and then realize that in the end, either I was wrong in my efforts,or others opinions of my efforts were misconstrued.

Accepting the fact that you aren't perfect in any situation is tough especially when you feel like you have really been doing the best you can. There is always room for improvement no matter how good you think you are. Criticism is important to maintain a healthy relationship with God. We are called as children of God to hold each other accountable to Godliness and we have to learn to not only be less sensitive when others confront our sin, but we have to learn to be willing to change. We need to change our way of thinking and stop defending ourselves when we feel attacked and realize the role we play. Infact the truth is, If we feel like we didn't really do anything to merit criticism, we probably aren't being honest with motives or ourselves - therefore resulting in a lack of humility.

Job 6:259(a) says, "How painful are honest words..."

I must learn to not be so hurt when others criticize me. Either in accurate honesty or in inaccuracy, I should allow it to sharpen me because even when they aren't completely right there is always something to learn and a huge dose of humility is waiting on the other side...and its a way better feeling than bitterness.