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Wise Studs

Clay Elliott

Ready:

“Better to be criticized by a wise person than to be praised by a fool.” Ecclesiastes 7:5

Set:

During my junior year of college, I was drafted by the Atlanta Braves in the ninth round. You would think I would be ecstatic, right? Well, I was…but I wasn’t at first. 

I had just completed my baseball season at Liberty University, and our team had finished on a very strong note. We beat one of the top ten teams in the country on our final day and everybody was in good spirits. My “outside” friends, meaning guys not on the team, started praising me and I listened. They spoke with clear conviction but little knowledge, declaring me one of the best players in the country. But when the first day of the draft was complete I was nowhere to be found. I wasn’t chosen and I got tweaked. I remember declaring out loud to nobody in particular that even if I was the first guy chosen tomorrow, I wasn’t going to sign. The next day I was the third player chosen.

Our verse above fit my circumstances well. My foolish friends were pumping into me bold lies. They would say stuff like, “No college shortstop is as strong as you,” “No college shortstop is as fast as you,” and “No college shortstop can hit like you.” And I believed this trash!

Unfortunately, at the time I didn’t have a wise person speaking into me and I got out of control. 

Criticism is needed for all of us to remain properly grounded. Find some wise studs in your life and ask them to critique you. Then, buy-in! 

Go:

1. Why don’t we like to be  critiqued?
2. Why do we like praises?
3. Who do you know that can critique you properly? 

  

Overtime:

Father, help me to not run from sound criticism and not buy into foolish praise, but rather help me to find someone that speaks truth into me and that I receive it. In Jesus name I pray, Amen.