Earning Your Right

OSL has definitely been a time of stretching for me; people are constantly encouraging growth here and offering up their advice. This is good, but I think its been a theme here that sometimes good advice falls to the wayside for the simple fact that people must earn the right to speak into someone else’s life.

There is certainly intrinsic value in “sucking it up and taking advice,” in humbling yourself and accepting someone’s rebuke, re-evaluating yourself, and making necessary changes. However, not everyone is at a place where this is possible. Sometimes we are insecure, and when someone we aren’t familiar with comes to us aggressively with a complaint or suggestion about ways we can “fix” our character, it becomes difficult for us to look past our own pride and see that they are correct. While its true that we must deal with the pride issue, there is also a responsibility for the other person to deal with their motives and their approach when trying to encourage others to grow.

The point of “rebuking” someone, or suggesting change, must always be exactly that: change for the other person so they become more like Jesus’ character. I think that sometimes, when we come at people with a certain tone and without truly considering them or how they will best accept our advice, we rebuke from a place of our own pride and insecurity. I’ve noticed myself doing it so, so many times without really even realizing it. No, I think that a genuine heart for others will seek to effect change in the easiest way possible; in other words, the person who really is concerned for the other will approach them in whatever way is necessary to actually make a difference in them. They will seek to avoid any tone, word choice, and anything else that might hinder the person from receiving the advice.