That Really Hurts…

No one likes to be criticized. We don’t want to be the butt of the joke. We don’t enjoy being the punching bag for others. It hurts when it isn’t true. It really hurts when it is. It might bruise our egos, hurt our feelings and make our faces red, but how much does it harm us.

Words can hurt but only damage us if we let them. And it might even help us.

It seems to me that folks today have much thinner skin than we used to. Maybe it’s because we have so many ways to talk about people, it’s worn down our skin. Maybe, we are a little wimpier since we have had not to suffer as many ‘real’ hardships. Whatever the case, from the athletic field to the boardroom, to the capital, people seem to be much more oversensitive to the words of others.

I wonder if it is because we place too much concern on what others think of us. A lack of self-esteem is shown in how we respond to critics. A wise man listens to a critic and takes to heart the truth and throws away the rest. A fool takes it all and adds it as fuel to the fire of his rage. He is absorbed with it since the words, not the truth behind them is his concern.

Instead of letting other's words rule and define us, let’s only let them improve us. In the end, in won’t matter what anybody said about us unless it was true. I can learn and grow from truth but false claims can slide by.

Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles, so that in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, they may because of your good deeds, as they observe them, glorify God in the day of visitation.

1st Peter 2:12

You can’t keep people from saying things about you, but you can make those people liars. Words may sting but the can only destroy if you let the break the surface. I don’t have to care about it all only what I can use to help me be better.

If criticism can help me stay out of hell than good. But I don’t have to let it make my life here one.

Comments

Until Midnight

In Acts 20, there is the tragicomic event surrounding a young man by the name of Eutychus. He did what a lot of folks before and after him did, he fell asleep during a sermon. Unfortunately, he was setting in in the third story window at the time. So instead of nodding off and hitting the pew in front of him, he fell to his death. The good news was the apostle Paul was delivering the sermon and had the ability to bring him back. I don’t know, however, if we can judge Eutychus too harshly. The sermon had gone on till midnight. Paul wouldn’t finish it up till daybreak. That’s a long lesson. I know some folks that might want to jump out of a window if I had a lesson that long, yet these Christians wanted to be there to hear Paul. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not pushing for all night sermons but I think we might need to adopt these folks' dedication. They knew that Paul was only in town for a limited time only and they were determined to ...

The Mighty Gulf

It is hard to get people on two sides of an issue to come together. Each has their own viewpoint, their perceptive, their own foibles, their own understanding. To gain any common ground there must be something in common. Something or someone that can bridge the gulf between the two. Could there be a greater gulf than there was between God and man? How could a holy perfect God find a way to connect to the fallen, imperfect mankind? How can one without temptation connect to those who are beset by it? How could limited mortal beings understand an omnipotent eternal God? In 1 Timothy 2:5, we read, “ For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus .” The phrase mediator here describes a person that bridges the gap, a go-between. Jesus was one who could stand in both worlds. A perfect holy one who can understand our temptations, a man who would die yet live eternally, One who was God yet became flesh and dwelt among us. ...

How Dare You!

Lewis Keseberg was tired of all the accusations against him so he filed a defamation lawsuit against Ned Coffeemeyer the man he saw as responsible for the rumors. The court found that Ned had indeed called Keseberg a “thief and murderer” without any proof but it didn’t rule very strongly in his favor by only imposing a fine of one dollar. Maybe they were lenient because Ned Coffeemeyr had earlier rescued Lewis Keseberg from a terrible situation. Maybe it was because the accusations while not proven were highly likely. And maybe because Lewis Keseberg had admitted to eating people. Lewis Keseberg was one of the members of the infamous Donner Party, a wagon train that got caught in the Siera Nevada mountain and resorted to cannibalism to survive. Keseberg wasn’t known as a very good person before those events and they certainly didn’t help improve his image. But to sue the very person who saved you seems to define the kind of person he was....

Ecclesiastes 12:10

Search This Blog