Clarksville, TN – As Christians we still have within us the evil potential to destroy ourselves and others. History contains plenty of illustrations of how cruel Christians have been when they thought they were acting in Jesus name. We must admit that, even though we strive to be Christ like, we often fail miserably to be like Him.
This may be a hard statement to believe but through God’s grace we should be thankful for when we are accused of doing or being wrong. Part of us thinks “It would be great to be well-thought of by all men.” But think about Jesus words when He said, “Woe to you when all men speak well of you. For so did their fathers to the false prophets.” (Luke 6:26 NKJV)
Jesus was and is God and He often came under attack. Now you and I are guilty of many things. But they accused Him of things He had not done. And they killed Him. So don’t be surprised when Satan will be gathering his forces against us. We shouldn’t be surprised when Satan uses the lies of others, twisting the truth to attack us. To be a Christian means to expect to receive the same kind of treatment Jesus got. He told us a servant isn’t greater than his master. And if they persecuted Him they would persecute us. Our defense against criticism should be to respond according to God’s instructions. In (Romans 12:14-21) we are told to pray for those who persecute us and ask God to bless them. To overcome evil with good.
We can look at things for what they are, but we can choose to respond to them in a way that won’t allow them to make destructive inroads into our own spirit through the path of criticism. As we bring every thought captive to Jesus, He will help us, by His Spirit, to meditate on that which is “honest, just, pure, lovely, and of good report.” (Philippians 4:8)
By living in His Spirit, we grow more and more confident regarding that most important moment in all eternity when we stand before a Holy God with nothing to say in our own defense. Powerless in and of ourselves, we will stand in the power that works in us. We will see the glorious strength which flows from the One who forgave others and taught us to do the same.
Jesus will approach the Father and present us to Him. And then and there, God will put to an end the accusations leveled against us who inherit His eternal kingdom. He will do it by ushering us into faithful servant… “Enter into the joy of your Lord.” (Matthew 25:21 NKJV) “Now to Him who is able to… present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy… Be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever.” (Jude 24 & 25 NKJV)
From that moment on we will never again need to learn how to accept criticism. But for now our assignment is clear. We must learn to respond to criticism as peacefully as Jesus did. As we do, He will make it work for our good.
Excerpt from Created To Believe: The Power of Praise Through Practical Biblical Truths written by Richard “Reason” Garrett
Copyright © 2011 Liberated Publishing Inc
