As I was reading The Art of Manliness: Classic Skills and Manners for the Modern Man by Brett McKay, I came across the following quote...
“Criticism may not be agreeable, but it is necessary. It fulfills the same function as pain in the human body; it calls attention to the development of an unhealthy state of things." -- Winston Churchill
If you do not have any criticism coming at you it is either because you don't have any friends or because you aren't doing anything; and in either case, you have a problem. Because all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, all will need help knowing exactly where they're falling short or a better assessment of how far short they've fallen. In other words, if you're concussed and confused about how far you just fell, a clear-headed friend probably has a better take on it.
Proverbs 27:5-6
Better is open rebuke
than hidden love.
Faithful are the wounds of a friend;
profuse are the kisses of an enemy.
If we aren't receiving any criticism, we aren't loved. We may be liked, tolerated, spoiled, flattered, or feared, but we are not loved. Love is easily pleased and impossible to satisfy. It takes you as you are, but won't let you settle for staying as you are. It delights in the beloved while desiring the best for it. It loves whether you change or not, but never stops encouraging you to change. It always wants better for you... for your own sake.
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