The older I get, the more I realize how much I really don’t know and how much I have to lean on Jesus Christ every day as my foundation of Truth. When I was younger, I felt like I knew everything, and you couldn’t tell me otherwise. I was good at figuring things out, and if somebody gave me some advice, I would always have to test it to see if it was true. Many times this ended in some pretty bad failures.
Even with my parents, I never really wanted to listen to them because I felt like I knew how to run my life better. Regardless if they were right, they were still wrong. It didn’t matter because they were just trying to take away my fun, so I thought. As I begin to age and get older, my whole outlook on life has changed because walking with the Lord has shown me how beneficial it is to be wise and not a fool. A fool will not listen to anybody because they think they know what is best. But a wise man will listen to the trustworthy counsel of others and apply it.
“A wise man will hear and increase in learning, and a man of understanding will acquire wise counsel.” Proverbs 1:5
Over the years, I have grown to invite wise counsel so that I can grow closer to God and know how to love people better. Many times I found that I have ended up offending or hurting people, but the truth of the matter is I just didn’t have a clue that what I was doing was offensive. Nobody told me. I think now, that is why I love to hear how I can improve in every area of my life. It’s not always easy hearing your faults, and I wouldn’t want to hear them all at once, but I do appreciate when people are bold enough to love me for helping me grow in life.
If you wish to become a better people person, you have to be willing to set aside your pride and be prepared to hear the hard things. This will require you to accept constructive criticism. Not to get offended when somebody sees something in you that will need a change. Changing our perspective from “people are attacking you”, to “people are telling you to grow and get better”, will allow us to be able to embrace critique and become better in this thing we call life.
We have to take getting offended and destroy it. That is one thing that will get in the way from seeing ourselves as we really are; sinners and imperfect humans. How do we destroy getting offended? Take a deep breath and look at your situation and pray. Are you quickly jumping to a conclusion before fully understanding the entirety of that circumstance? If you are, and you are quick to fight back to defend your pride, look to the cross and what Jesus did, the ultimate example, before you reply. He had every right to be offended but humbled himself to give life. Your reaction can do the same by bringing life into the situation or bringing death from pride and stopping growth.
“Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry.” James 1:19
Seek out the counsel of the wise, but learn and keep growing from it. That requires action, so do as you learn and you will become more like Christ. This isn’t easy but watch how much God will change your life when you humble yourself to Jesus and to others. Be a life-long learner and don’t be so quick to get offended. Growth comes from change, so embrace it.
