Ever deal with critical people? They can be real difficult to be around. Nothing ever seems to be good in their life. They are critical of their boss, their co-workers, their company, their church, their pastor, their friends, and even their spouses. Of course this is not an exhaustive list but a good start.

How are we to handle the critics in our life? We all have them. It’s been said that success breeds criticism. It’s like the better your marriage, the more criticism you’ll get. The higher the corporate ladder you climb the more criticism you’ll get. And so on and so forth. Do we not succeed in order to escape this? No, not at all, we just have to learn how to handle the criticism and the critics.

While I don’t have all the answers to the questions I’ve posed I do have a couple of suggestions.

Some criticism should be listened to. There are times when people are critical but their heart is in the right place. They really just want to help us. Proverbs 15:31-32 tells us that it is a wise thing to heed instruction. Proverbs 27:17 adds to that by telling us that iron sharpens iron. Sometimes others can make us better by pointing out in us the things we do not see.

Some criticism should be ignored. We all know someone who is just a critical person. Their life is characterized by criticism. Matthew 15:14 tells us to just dismiss those that are blind. We know we cannot make them happy, nor can anyone else. We pray for them, love them, and help them when they reach out to us but we do not internalize the criticism we get from them. We strive to please God not men.

Again, not an all inclusive solution to what we all deal with, but a step in the right direction. Strive to please your maker, His is the only opinion that will matter in the end.

God’s blessings and good flying to all!

Pastor Denver