Last week we looked at the second characteristic of spiritual maturity -Deadness to praise. You can read parts 1, 2 & 3 of this blog by clicking on the Archives link on the left hand side of your screen (Part 1 is under the December Archive) or the Older Entries link at the bottom of the page will let you view Parts 2 & 3. Now lets take a look at the third mark of maturity.
3. Handling Correction
I want to point out that we should be dead to “unfair” criticism. What if the criticism is fair? Needed? Necessary? A mature person is also able to receive correction without getting offended.
Proverbs 9:8 Do not correct a scoffer, lest he hate you; Rebuke a wise man, and he will love you.
A mature person is able to recognize the need for correction. He or she is receptive and willing to make adjustments. In addition, a mature person is thankful for the correction. On the other hand, immature people usually don’t like correction.
My son is young and he does not like correction. Guess what? He gets correction anyway because he needs it. When we correct him, sometimes he complains, disagrees, whines, argues, gives us a mad look, blows steam, and sometimes he even blames us for what he did wrong. Immaturity does not like correction. Unfortunately, you can get a similar reaction correcting immature believers – some blow steam, argue, give you a mad look, avoid you, and blame you for what they did or failed to do.
The good news is God wants us to grow up and mature! One mark of maturity is valuing spiritual things ahead of natural things. Another mark of maturity is a deadness to censure of praise. Next week we’ll look at how to handle positive praise. We’ll take a look at how Peter, James, Jesus and Paul responded to positive praise!