Having a Critical Spirit.....

Criticism—when we hear this word we are convinced that when a person is doing it he/she is justified to give one’s own “opinion” or “view” on a situation or person. But when someone criticizes us or what we are doing, well, that becomes a negative or hurtful situation.

Matthew 7:1-2 (NIV) says, “Do not judge or you too will be judged, for in the same way you judge others, you will be judged and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”

If we were to replace the word “judge” with “criticize” I think this passage takes on a whole different focus.
“Do not criticize or you too will be criticized, for in the same way you criticize others, you will be criticized……”

Catherine Marshall* talks about a time when God asked her to fast one day from criticism. What she found out was that a critical spirit always focuses on self and one’s perspective is distorted. A spirit of criticism has a tendency to block positive creative thoughts and ideas that God longs to give us. Being critical puts an obstacle in the way of God’s Spirit and hinders God from working love, mercy and acceptance in and through us.

Being critical of someone or something only takes our focus off of what God is wanting you and I to accomplish. When we see something wrong in another person’s behavior or a situation, instead of criticizing or grumbling about it, God desires that you and I seek God’s Spirit through prayer to intervene and correct what is needed. Because in all truth change can only come through the power of God’s Spirit.
Let us together love each other and let God transform the areas that need fixing.


*Catherine Marshall, A Closer Walk (Old Tappen, NJ: Chosen Books/Revell, 1986)

Yard Sale

Recently our church hosted a “Yard Sale”. Actually, it was held in our parish hall, but still it involved collecting used items that people had in their homes that they no longer had need of. We received some very nice items that showed little or no use. We also received items that had shown much use and a lot of love. What amazed me about the items collected was the variety of “things” that people have in their possession. Some items were very useful in their function, other items were hard to determine what they were used for and still some items were beautiful and others plain ugly. For the people who donated the “things” in our sale, well, they no longer had use for them or they had stored them for so long that the space the item was taking up was needed for something else.

As I walked among the tables that held these “things”, I began to think of the old axiom “one man’s junk is another man’s treasure”. As I pondered this idea, what surfaced was how we as people see each other verses the way that God see all of us. For many, people are viewed as objects, what can be gotten out of another, what can they do for me, how will this benefit me. People, if they do not meet the criteria that a particular group sets, well then, they do not measure up and therefore are seen as “junk”. But in God’s eyes, we are all seen as precious treasures or another way of saying it – as collectibles.

There are two primary characteristics of collectibles: desirability and rarity. You have heard the saying that “God does not make junk”. This holds true to the way that God sees you and me. We are collectible. We are wanted because God desires you and me. “You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you” (John 15:16). You and I have been chosen by God – God desires us. But unlike the collectibles we have, God does not place us on a shelf to be admired. God calls us to go and bear fruit, that is, to share God’s love and caring with those around us.

Rarity, another characteristic of a collectible, is how God views us. No one on this earth who has ever lived is just like you. Oh, there may be someone who may look like you, such as a twin, but to be exactly like you – there is none. That is why people can be identified by their DNA. God says, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations." (Jeremiah 1:5) and  “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb” (Psalm 139:13). God tenderly and lovingly created us. God could have just thrown us together with a snap of the finger, but no, God chose a delicate, intimate way of forming us in our mother’s womb. God has been completely involved in creating you and me as a rare creature designed to love and be loved.

One man’s junk may be another man’s treasure, but in God’s eyes there is only treasure to be found. For you and I are desirable and rare from God’s perspective.