A Critic’s Greatest Weapon…

It’s funny we can focus on the wrong groups.  90 people can approve of what we do, 5 people don’t care, and 5 criticize what you do.  Guess which group we give all our attention to….THE CRITICS!

How is it that they have that kind of power over us?  It comes down to one word…FEAR.

1. Fear of disapproval–It’s easy to want everyone to like you and appreciate what you do.  But the fact is that you’ll never have everyone approve what you do.
2. Fear that you made the wrong decision–If you give ear to what they’re saying, it could seriously cause you to doubt your decision.  You could be feeling great about it until someone who isn’t even involved or has any relationship with you points out what you SHOULD have done.  The sports world calls these people “armchair quarterbacks”.
3. Fear that everyone else really feels the same way–Fear causes  this small groups of critics to appear HUGE!  It reminds me of the scripture that says “Satan walks about AS a roaring lion seeking those who he may devour.”  He’s good and

So how do we combat the fear the critics are dishing out?

1. Listen to the people that matter–These are people that are close enough to you to see not just what you do, but your motives as well.  For me, this has often been my beautiful wife and my prayer warrior of an aunt, Joyce.  They’ve saved me from making bad decisions many times and I knew I could trust their voices because 1)  I knew they genuinely cared about me, and 2) I knew they had spent time with God.
2. Spend time hearing from God–When you’ve heard from God concerning what decision He wants you to make, no critic should ever cause you to change course.  Romans 8:6 says, “If God be for us, who can be against us?”.  Verse 33 tells us that God is the judge of what we do (not the critic who is probably someone without much of a life except to point out the flaws in those that are actually trying to forge ahead and make a difference in the world for Christ).
3. Realize that there will always be critics–They’re not going anywhere…But you are–You’re going to places they were to scared to venture.