What Others Say

Scripture Reading: Acts 28:1-10

The opinions of men are fickle things. The Maltese people concluded Paul was a murderer, deserving of a painful death one moment, and a godlike figure worthy of worship the next. They were basing their judgments on circumstantial evidence. He was bitten by a viper. He must, therefore, be a murderer. He didn’t die as expected. He must, therefore, be a god.

We should weigh what others say about us. There are times when what we are blind to in ourselves is revealed by the critique and/or criticism of others. At the same time, it is important to remember that not all criticism is fair or true. After all, the perfect Jesus was lambasted by his peers.

There is no hard and fast methodology to follow here, no three-step process to figure out when to heed and when to ignore your critics. What we need are humility and honesty. Most of all we need wisdom, the kind of wisdom that can sort through whatever is said, good or bad.

We need to recognize that, as it was with Paul, we are not likely as bad as our worst critics claim (a murderer deserving of an agonizing death). Nor are we as great as our biggest fans say (a god to be worshipped). We are sinners, saved by grace, being transformed from glory to glory, day by day. We are not as bad as we could be, and not as good as we should be. We are growing in grace and becoming more and more like Jesus.

If our critics help to push us along in that direction, thank God for them. If their criticisms of us have become soul-crushing weights, if we find ourselves being more concerned about their opinions than the Lord’s, we are putting too much weight on what they say.