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Tuesday... Easy to give but hard to get.


Tuesday... Easy to give but hard to get. It really is.

It is so easy for us to give criticism but so hard to get but it can be so good for us.

I know, there are alot of things in life that are good for us but we don't like them. As a kid, I didn't like spinach but through the years I have learned to like it because it is good for me. There are many things that I used to not like but do now but I'm not sure criticism is one of them.

The writer of Proverbs 29:1 says, "Whoever stubbornly refuse to accept criticism will suddenly be destroyed beyond recovery." The Message puts it this way, "For people who hate discipline and only get more stubborn, there'll come a day when life tumbles in and they break, but by then it will be too late."

Pride has a way of ruining us and holding us back from maturity. But wisdom goes a long way. Have you ever thought that there is a nugget of truth in each criticism? All we need to do is dig through all the other parts and find the truth and then accept it and learn from it.

Now could it be there are portions of the Bible that we don't really want to wade through because they show where we are wrong? But that is where the growth comes in. 

The Amplified Bible says, "He who hardens his neck and refuses instruction after being often reproved (corrected, criticized), will suddenly be broken beyond repair."

I don;'t like to be criticized. I am old, experienced, I read the Bible everyday and I write a blog but I still need to see in my life where I need to change, I need to grow. But pride even at my age gets in the way. 

O God. May we see that there are messengers out there whom you have brought across our paths to show us where we need to change. It may be our wife or our husband or even our children. Or that person who it seems is always striving to bring us down. Maybe you are using them to make us to be more like Christ. So may we let your Spirit lead us to what we need to hear and we need to change. I really do need You! 

Maybe we need to pray a prayer of honesty with a desire to grow closer to what He wants us to be. Thank You, Father for this word from Your Word today. Yes, yes! #todaysbeginning  

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