Shine: Stepping Into The Role You Were Made ForSample

Allison Allen: Shine, Stepping into the Role You Were Made For Devotional Day 5

The Danger of Criticism

Scripture: Psalm 139

When you step into God’s light for you, expect criticism. I have spent much of my adult life magically wishing those ten words away. I wish they weren’t true of life on God-stages or theatrical stages or any stages. But they are. 

Now, constructive criticism brings course correction and, taken to heart, can put courage in. But destructive criticism often takes courage out. It’s the kind that makes stepping into God’s light a fearful proposition.

I have known daughters of God who have never stepped into their light for fear of what “they” (the critics) might say. I have also known daughters who once stood bravely in God’s glow for them but have since retreated from their place on their God-stage because of negative, overly judgmental criticism. 

That criticism might come from the unknown “they” or from those who share your coffeemaker. No matter the source, destructive criticism extracts internal fortitude with dizzying speed. In reaction, some of us have flat-out decided that we would rather dwell in the shadows than dare to shine in Christ. 

We need to remember who is not criticizing us. The One who is not a critic is Jesus himself. Not in one list of all the incredible names of our Jesus do I find a place that calls him a critic. Certainly he is called the righteous Judge and one day will judge all things with truth and justice. But Jesus’s heart of correction toward us feels nothing like the driven pointedness of harsh criticism. 

Settle into this, sister: Jesus is not a critic of your life, or your heart. Knowing this will lead you to dare to step fully onto the God-stage he is inviting you to. When overly critical words of others come, remember, your Father’s right critique is that he is pleased with you. Those overly judgmental words from others? They hit him first. They pass through his hands, and it will be his hands that hold you up when your knees buckle.

Daughter, he tells you, because of my Son, you couldn’t please me more. Don’t leave your place. Don’t abandon your light. Take another step.

Have you ever experienced the sting of overly judgmental criticism? If so, how did you respond? What is the difference between the criticism of others and the correction and guidance of God?