¹¹At the end of your life, you will lament

when your physical body has been consumed,

¹²and you will say, “How I hated discipline,

and how my heart despised correction.

Proverbs 5:11-12 (CSB)

Criticism is bound to come as we go through our life, and it usually doesn’t feel like a positive thing. Oftentimes in our culture, criticism is seen as one of the highest forms of evil. After all, we should just live and let live, right?

Even if we don’t see criticism as a bad thing, it’s often hard to accept when it’s personal. I know this is one of my biggest shortcomings and one that I continue to struggle with. Our initial reaction is often to become defensive and shift blame, but if we’re honest, how often are the criticisms valid? Solomon says that when we don’t listen to correction, we will ultimately lament it because of the destruction it causes.

Has there ever been a time where you offered correction to someone else, whether it was your child, friend, coworker, or family? And if they reacted the way we often do, defensively, then you probably noticed that they were worse off for it. Criticism that comes from a place of love is meant to better the person receiving it, yet we impulsively reject it.

The book of Judges provides a clear example of what happens when we do what we think is right and don’t listen to discipline. Judges covers the time after the Israelites entered the promise land and before they had a king. God laid out His law for them, and had they followed it He would have blessed them and kept them safe. However, the Israelites consistently rejected God’s law, resulting in war and destruction time and time again. And why did that happen? Because, as the author of Judges notes, “everyone did whatever seemed right to him” (Judges 21:25).

If we only do what seems right to us and never accept valid criticism, especially from our brothers and sisters in Christ, then we’re setting ourselves up for failure.

¹³I didn’t obey my teachers

or listen closely to my instructors.

¹⁴I am on the verge of complete ruin

before the entire community.”

Proverbs 5:13-14 (CSB)

How do we guard ourselves from being stubborn and refusing criticism? It’s a difficult process, but we must open ourselves up to instruction from others. Of course, there will be times where someone criticizes you unjustly, and we should always weigh human correction against the word of God. However, oftentimes people are right to criticize our actions and behavior when they don’t align with God’s standard. In these instances, we should remain level-headed and pray about their correction, making an effort to respond to it biblically. After all, if we can’t graciously accept rebuke from other people, it would be foolish to think that we would accept it from God. I pray that God would align our hearts with His and give us the strength and humility to accept correction from our brothers and sisters.

Blessings,

Joleen