Tuesday, October 12, 2010

The Right Critic


“When we are going through desperate, difficult times, the hardest thing can be hearing the voices of condemnation, rejection, and shame from others. The Enemy – the accuser of our brothers – loves to use people to kick us in the stomach when we’re down. The Enemy loves to use our sin to condemn us rather than allow us to hear the conviction of the Holy Spirit . . . Jesus silences the condemning voices and commands them to leave. Listen to the kindness in His voice as He says in John 8:10-11.” By Beth Redman God Knows My Name: Never Forgotten, Forever Loved


As the story goes in the book of John a group of people brought a woman, “caught in sin” to Jesus to have her stoned. Instead of giving them a quick yes or no Jesus started writing in the dirt while telling them that whoever was without sin got to throw the first stone. Instead of being able to throw the stone they wanted to so badly one stone after another dropped to the ground while they quietly snuck away.

After Jesus stood up from His writing ordeal He looked around as if He was surprised, “Where’s your accusers?” He asked. The woman told Him they were all gone. Jesus then tells her, “well I don’t condemn you either, go and sin no more.”

What a praise it is that Jesus doesn’t condemn us. We don’t need to condemn ourselves. We don’t need to listen to Satan’s condemnation. What we need to do is “go and sin no more.” During hard and rough times it seems like the voices that are the loudest are those full of condemnation. People thinking they could have “worn your shoes better” and did things a lot more successful.

Back in the days of when my daughter first told me she was pregnant I struggled a great deal with what others may say about the situation. As time passed my defenses went up and I was ready for any of those critics out there in critic land. I had my mind already made up that if anyone came along and condemned me or her and rattled on about “what they would have done.” I was ready to take off my shoes and hand them to them telling them, “if you think you could do better, here’s my shoes.”

Thanks to God fearing people and an understanding church family the occasion never arose. Everyone was very supportive and lessons were learned, granddaughters were born, and God told us all “go and sin no more.” He never once condemned us but encouraged us to go forward wiser and more Christ-like.

It’s when we begin to listen to these voices over the voice of God telling us, “I don’t condemn you either, go and sin no more,” that we get discouraged. We begin a downward spiral in our spirit that doesn’t need to happen. God wants us to be obedient. He’s not going to let us off the hook at the end if we don’t repent and turn our lives around towards Him. He’s not the one doing the condemning of our souls but the choices we make in life are doing that for us. Those choices are the ones we need to review and look at and decide, “No, I’m not going there. I’m doing what Jesus said and go and sin no more.”

We don’t need the world’s critics, what we need is Christ.

Our host today is Loni at writing Canvas

© 2010 Karen J. Gillett @ Pencil Marks and Recipes Publishing

5 comments:

Debbie Petras said...

Karen, I couldn't help but get a chuckle out of picturing you with a pair of shoes in your hand and giving them a piece of your mind. I wouldn't blame you either.

But it seems that there's always those people who make sure you know they would handle the situation differently. And that can be exhausting to deal with them.

Going through challenges and difficulties certainly opens our eyes to the responses of people. I am sure you would be a great person for someone to talk to if they found that their daughter was pregnant. Providing comfort and love and understanding in that situation would be so welcome as you've walked in those shoes.

One of my friends lost her son in an auto accident when he was 21 years old. She is able to comfort others who have lost a child like I would never be able to do since I've not walked in those shoes.

You shared some very thought provoking points here Karen. Well written from the heart.

Blessings and love,
Debbie

Anonymous said...

I may steal your shoe saying sometime! I am thankful for the opportunity God gives us for the shoes we have walked in to help those walking in similar shoes. Thank you for sharing this week.

Constance Gilbert said...

Did I miss this? Congrats on you Guidepost story!

I also like your shoes comeback. I once handed my son to a stranger- a woman, who was yelling at me because I was hurting him (in her opinion). She shut up very quickly & I walked away.

I was surprised that Chris didn't start crying. His look was as dumb-founded as hers.

After walking 20-30 ft. I went back & retrieved him. She gratefully handed him back, didn't say a word & nearly running departed.

My "abuse" was having him run with me so he'd get tired & take a nap. If I hadn't retrieved him, she'd have found out what a tired toddler without a nap was like. LOL

NRIGirl said...

Hi! Glad to stop by. Enjoyed your post - mainly because I read that same portion yesterday.

Care for some Coffee with Jesus?!

~ NRIGirl

Marsha Young said...

Karen,
Sometimes those experiences that are the most painful at the time contain the seeds of our greatest blessings later on. Sounds like this was one of those times for you and your family. Thanks for the encouragement....Marsha Y.