HOW TO HANDLE YOUR CRITICS. BY REV DR IYKE NWAMBIE. READ AND BE BLESSED 1 Samuel 17: 28-30 Critics are not your best models when you are aiming at something serious. They come in different shapes and sizes. They show forth amongst your friends and foes. They misquote you, misjudge you, distort your words, question your motives, slander you for cheap points and still pretend to be on your side. CRITICS THEY COME SHORT ON THEIR OWN STANDARD Critics hold the four aces in their own court. They accuse you of something farthest from your mind, they prosecute you without the benefit of having a defense attorney and pass a verdict of guilt on you without the option of an appeal. They pretend to champion a great cause in their criticism of you, but portray their mischief in the fact that, they come very short when you evaluate them on the same standard that they set. They accuse you of not loving the lord, yet they have no proof of loving the Lord themselves, they accuse you of being stingy, yet they give nothing to anybody, they accuse you of not winning souls, yet they have not won any soul themselves, they accuse you of being proud, yet humility is a word they have never attempted to think about, let alone practice! WHAT THE LORD TAUGHT ME Back in the days, when I pioneered our Lagos church, I had a member who got so disillusioned about his critics that he would rather stay by himself and do nothing because he was afraid of what people would say. Friend, it was an opportunity for me to tell him what the Lord had taught me earlier from the book of 1 Samuel 17:28-30. It was a story of David and his brother, Eliab. It was a story that showed how David chose his battles. It was a story that showed how David decided to ignore the accusations and critical statements of his brother and focused on how to deal with Goliath, who was harassing God’s people over and over with his words. It was a story that made me learn that, the best response for my critics is not to spend more time trying to persuade them, like I used to do. Instead, I must ignore their lies, and focus on my assignment. WHO WINS AN ARGUMENT? For critics are those who ignore their own assignment for best reasons known to them, only to make you their assignment. And when you choose to reply to their distracting words, you will soon discover that you will be like the man who chose to stop his 100 meter dash race half-way to engage in an argument. Well, the Lord told me, that even if I win the argument, I stand to lose the race. So, I must choose which one is the better deal to win. The race? which has a reward, or the argument? which nobody really wins! OPINIONS ARE THE CHEAPEST COMMODITY EVER KNOWN He went ahead to make me see that opinions are the cheapest commodity ever know. They exist everywhere. The beggar who begs for a living has an opinion on how the president of his country should run things. The student who depends on his parents for financial sustenance has an opinion on how his parents should be running things. The civilian who has never gone to any war, has an opinion on how the soldier at the war-front should aim his gun. The unbeliever who has not even known what being born again means, has an opinion on how a church pastor should run the church. LIVE ABOVE THEIR WORDS Friend, the list goes on and on. But my point is that you must dare to live above the criticism of your critics. For they have never walked your path, they have never felt your pain, they know very little about what they are saying about you. That was why Jesus ignored the pharisees, and if he must talk to them, He spoke to them in parables, so as to confuse them the more. He never, ever attempted to explain His position to them. He only did that to His disciples when they asked Him questions. SILENCE CANNOT BE MISQUOTED My church member got the drift of my message and dared to ignore his critics, and listened to the voice of God within him. That action made him the first person in our new church to travel to Hongkong, as an importer of electronic items back then. Hallelujah! Friend, when your critics come against you, simply wink at them and keep moving. For silence has never been misquoted! And it will not misquoted in your case in Jesus name. Amen! And until I come your way again, this is still your friend, Iyke Nwambie, saying to you be of good cheer and keep smiling! #WisdomMakesTheDifference#
Posted on: Thu, 06 Jun 2013 11:34:05 +0000
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