Benjamin Franklin once remarked, “Nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” Criticism could also be added to this list of life’s certainties. Sooner or later the guns of criticism are leveled at everyone. Jesus was not exempt from the problem of criticism, even though his life was perfect. If the Master could not escape criticism, how can we expect to? The question is not “Will criticism come?” but “How shall I deal with it when it does come?”
Here are three suggestions on how to handle criticism.
First: Learn from it. When criticism comes your way, do your best to be objective. Do not be too quick to rationalize or excuse yourself. Sometimes you can profit greatly by what people say about you. If the criticism is just, do something about it. If the criticism is unjust, put it where you put your other garbage.
Second: Ignore it. If the criticism is untrue or unjustified, then just forget it. Do not try to answer every critic. Follow the example of Christ, who often answered his critics with silence. The Bible says, “Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest thou also be like unto him” (Proverbs 26:4).
Abraham Lincoln once said, “If I were to try to read, much less answer, all the attacks made on me, this shop might as well be closed for any other business. I do the very best I know how—the very best I can; and I mean to keep doing so until the end. If the end brings me out all right, what’s said against me won’t amount to anything. If the end brings me out wrong, ten angels swearing I was right would make no difference.”
Third: Disprove it. There’s a story that when Plato was told that a man had been making slanderous charges against him, his answer was, “I will live in such a way that no one will believe what he says.” This is the solution of the Bible. It says, “For so is the will of God, that with well doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men” (1 Peter 2:15). This is your best defense.
Why not begin today to live a godly life? Remove from your life those things that are wrong. Add to your life those qualities that are good and thus live in such a way that when someone criticizes you, others will not believe them.