Critical People: The Causes & Our Responses
I Samuel 15-19; Psalm 34
May 28, 2006
Dr. Roger Ferguson, Sr. Pastor
THEME: Today we start a new sermon series from the Bible entitled "Sandpaper People: Treating Right Those Who Rub You Wrong". This morning we will talk about how to deal with overly critical, demanding people. In future Sundays we will talk about how to handle overly "needy" people, manipulators and hypocrites. We will see how God can use even irritable sandpaper people to polish the image of Christ in us!
I. Types of criticism:
1. Constructive criticism: learn from it.
"It is better to heed a wise man's rebuke than to listen to the song of
fools."
Ecclesiastes 7:5
2. Destructive criticism: seeks to control you.
"All day long they twist my words; they are always plotting to harm me."
Psalm 56:5
II. Overly critical people feel inadequate because they see themselves as owners, not stewards.
(I Samuel 15-20)
1. They will try to drive a wedge between people to control them.
2. They will use shame and blame to control.
(I Samuel 20:30)
III. How to respond to the overly critical person.
1. Supply missing information and stay on subject.
(I Samuel 19:4-5)
2. Set boundaries and leave revenge to God. (I Samuel 19:9-10)
"Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: "It is mine to avenge; I will repay, says the Lord".
Romans 12:19
3. Trusting God when unfairly criticized forges integrity so God can greatly use you. (Psalm 34)
What will you do with truth you have learned?
Hearing truth changes nothing. Practicing truth changes everything. With that in mind, what will you do differently?
1. If you are overly critical, admit it, turn to God and live differently.
2. If you are a victim of criticism, what is God calling you to do?
3. Have you trusted Christ to forgive your sin and lead
posted by First Baptist Church Owasso @ 12:53 PM
1 Comments:
This is a very insightful post. Destructive criticism is the tricky type to work with. Overly critical people seem to throw destructive criticism randomly without invitation, and while we can't change how they act we can certainly change how we act around them.
I feel the most important thing is to first treat the critical person with respect. Without respect, we cannot hope to take the communication to the next level. To begin with, the reason why most people dislike critical people is because they see them as being disrespectful. To treat the critical person with disrespect would just be perpetuating the situation.
I wrote an article where I shared my personal 8 methods to deal with critical people, which I'd like to share here: 8 Helpful Ways To Deal With Critical People.
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