What do you FEAR?.

I thought about this long and hard. The question to myself is: What do you fear? I know; I know… the first thing that comes to mind would be those things that keep us crippled for years. The things that keep us far removed from our God-given potential and our destiny waving at us far in the distance. 

The fear I thought of this morning is the fear we have at times of being criticised by others. I don’t know of any person who completely thrives on being criticised by others. I do however think that often those who often believe that they are always right and those who always speak down at others, those who try to “rule” others with an iron fist, are the very ones who fear criticism. Such fear in my opinion is none other than a clear indication that the individual is insecure and do not possess the ability to receive criticism and to reflect on it without taking any of it personal. Life is about growth and if we cannot accept criticism we retard the growth process in our lives. Often constructive criticism has the ability to bring out the very best in us. It allows us to have a new perspective on life.

I believe there is a process we all need to go through when being criticised. We need to overcome the initial embarrassment of when being criticised and then work through our need wanting to defend ourselves at every whim. We need to hear what is being said to us about us. Then we need to reflect on it before we respond. Reflection is vital in the process of criticism. It allows for us to see whether there is an element of truth in what has been said. Then it challenges us to make a decision as to how we will address the wrong and how to correct it. It also helps us to acknowledge our wrong. Anything presented to us which are a lie ought to be addressed with the critic and then we need to make a decision to move ahead. We cannot allow ourselves to get trapped in the fear of what others will think of us. Life is about moving and those who fear criticism are the ones that often get left behind without them realizing it.