Getting Rid of Criticism

"Seek the LORD, all you humble of the land,
you who do what he commands.
Seek righteousness, seek humility;
perhaps you will be sheltered
on the day of the LORD's anger." Zephaniah 2:3

One of the things we do way too much is criticize. These days we are taught that it's okay to look at the world with a critical eye, because we deserve to be surrounded by the very best of everything. We deserve to have perfect people around us, and we deserve perfection. Except that we don't and we shouldn't. We are far from perfect- each and every one of us. We fail in perfection each and every day of our lives. Thankfully, we have a God who is full of grace and love for us. He doesn't mind our imperfections, and in fact, he planned for them by sending his son to die for us and cover those imperfections with his blood.

So why do we take it upon ourselves to criticize anything and everything. We critique work we do ourselves and say "it's just not quite right" or "it's not as good as I'd hoped." Since when do we need perfection at all times? And then that carries over to other people. We criticize other's works, because we think we can do better, or we think they're just not trying hard enough.

It's simply a terrible spot to be in. It's terrible to have a critical eye towards other people. Instead, we need to take a page from the Bible and start noticing what is right around us. Instead of looking at our friends and pointing out all the bad, we need to point out the good. Instead of complaining about the wrongs in our marriages and relationships, we need to focus on the good. As Zephaniah 2:3 says, we need to seek humility and righteousness, and we cannot do that while we are looking upon the world with a critical eye.