June Hunt - Critical Spirit: Confronting the Heart of a Critic

The printed version of this eBook is the Critical Spirit: Confronting the Heart of a Critic book, ISBN-13: 9781628621310

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, posted on the Internet, or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from the THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION, NIV Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. Scripture quotations marked NKJV are taken from the New King James Version. Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked ESV are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. Copyright 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked HCSB are taken from the Holman Christian Standard Bible, Copyright 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Holman Christian Standard Bible, Holman CSB, and HCSB are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers. Scripture quotations marked (KJV) are taken from the Holy Bible, The Authorized King James Version. Public Domain.

The information and solutions offered in this resource are a result of years of Bible study, research, and practical life application. They are intended as guidelines for healthy living and are not a replacement for professional counseling or medical advice. JUNE HUNT and HOPE FOR THE HEART make no warranties, representations, or guarantees regarding any particular result or outcome. Any and all express or implied warranties are disclaimed. Please consult qualified medical, pastoral, and psychological professionals regarding individual conditions and needs. JUNE HUNT and HOPE FOR THE HEART do not advocate that you treat yourself or someone you know and disclaim any and all liability arising directly or indirectly from the information in this resource.

For more information on Hope For The Heart, visit www.hopefortheheart.org or call 1-800-488-HOPE (4673).

Critical Spirit: Confronting the Heart of a Critic
Copyright 2015 Hope For The Heart
All rights reserved.
Published by Aspire Press
An imprint of Hendrickson Publishing Group
Rose Publishing, LLC
P.O. Box 3473
Peabody, Massachusetts 01961-3473 USA
www.HendricksonPublishingGroup.com

Build: 2022-01-19 09:42:45 EPUB 2.0

CRITICAL SPIRIT

Confronting the Heart of a Critic

JUNE HUNT

• Shows how to respond, heal, and stop the cycle of criticism with the healing power of the Word of God.
• Reveals what a critical spirit is, how it is developed, and how to respond to it in a loving way. Includes practical tips and suggestions.
• Features incredible insight on how to respond to harsh criticism, combat negative criticism with truth, and even compassionately (and effectively) confront someone with a critical spirit.
• Gives practical advice and Biblical wisdom from June Hunt, a Christian counselor whose award-winning radio program Hope For The Heart is heard on more than 1,000 radio outlets around the world. For more than 25 years, she has counseled people, offering them hope for todays problems.

Dear Friend,

Ive been around boththose who have one and those who dont. And there is no joy when you have to be around someone with a critical spirit !

People with a critical spirit are like porcupines: When they feel threatened, they push out their barb-like quills to protect themselves and can deeply stab your heart.

We dont feel safe with sharp-quilled people . We know as surely as they can attack othersoften without justificationthey can just as easily turn on us without provocation.

Unfortunately, those who have a critical spirit dont recognize this negative character flaw in themselves. Instead, they defiantly proclaim, Im not negative. Im just right !

If you try to have a close relationship with someone who has a porcupine-personality , realize that its next to impossible to embrace a porcupine without getting hurt. And then, if you are being subjected to the jabs of an unjust critic, be on guardyou could get into the same negative pattern by jabbing back.

If you have been initiating the barbs, the guaranteed solution to stop you from barbing is one profound sentence spoken by Jesus: Do to others as you would have them do to you (Luke 6:31).

Just imagine, if every person with a critical spirit were to apply this passage every moment of every day, the transformation would be life-changing. No more barbs, no more jabs, no more sharp-pointed quillsjust the permanent change of a life reflecting the love of Christ.

Yours in the Lords hope,

CRITICAL SPIRIT

Confronting the Heart of a Critic

Curse God and die! The words spew out of the mouth of an embittered wife who is stunned and stymied by tragedy. Gone ... destroyed ... are all their possessions and all their children as a result of Gods allowing Satan to test her godly husband in order to prove his faith.

Job mourns their losses but doesnt malign the goodness of God. Instead he submits himself to the sovereignty of God by declaring, The L ORD gave and the L ORD has taken away; may the name of the L ORD be praised (Job 1:21).

But Curse God and die! is her retort, especially after seeing her husband suddenly strickenafflicted from head to toe with painful sores. She observes this once respected manso revered in the communitynow scorned and reduced to sitting in a pile of ashes and scraping his sores with a jagged piece of pottery. Jobs noble stance before the Lord is absolute nonsense to her. She doesnt want to hear one more word of devotion from her disease-ridden husband.

A critical spirit consumes the wife of the one whom God calls the greatest man among all the people (Job 1:3). However, shes had enough, and she wants Joband Godto know it! Are you still maintaining your integrity? she pounds, unleashing her toxic tongue: Curse God and die! (Job 2:9).

Everything is fine ... until they open their mouths. They are aghast at the sight before them. Their once highly respected friend is now horrifically humbled. Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zopharlets call them Eli, Bill, and Zo for shorthave set out from their homes to pour out comforting words upon their troubled friend, but now they find themselves speechless. For seven days and seven nights they sit on the ground and commiserate, and No one said a word to him, because they saw how great his suffering was (Job 2:13).

But soon their sympathetic presence morphs into a barrage of stinging rebuke that further crushes the spirit of poor Job. He responds in deep emotional pain ...

Anyone who withholds kindness from a friend forsakes the fear of the Almighty. (Job 6:14)

Like Jobs friends, has someone in your life assumed the role of your personal heavenly sandpaper a self-appointed expert at finding fault and continually focusing on your faults in an attempt to refine you? The abrasive words are not helpful, but hurtful, and qualify as verbal and emotional abuse . Such criticism grates against the grain of your soul, wearing you down and stripping you of your worth.