Taking Your Lumps
Theme of the Week: Leadership Ingredients
Thursday, September 12
Key Bible Verse: If you reject criticism you only harm yourself; but if you listen to correction, you grow in understanding (Proverbs 15:32). Bonus Reading: Proverbs 13:18; 15:31; 25:12; 29:1
William Wilberforce was a great leader, not because he was perfect, but because he accepted criticism, acknowledged his faults, and was willing to correct them. Instead of defending himself or retaliating, he heard out reproofs thoughtfully, even thankfully.
After a rebuke by one critic, Wilberforce wrote to him: "Believe me, I wish you not to abate any the force or frankness of your criticisms … Openness is the foundation and preservative of friendship … Let me therefore claim from you at all times your undisguised opinions."
And he told his son, Samuel, "Even if we are a little nettled when we first hear [our faults denounced], especially when they are such as we thought we were free from, or … are ashamed that others should discover, yet if we soon recover our good humor, and treat with kindness the person who has told us of them, it is a very good sign … Such persons are rendering us, even when gratifying their own dislike of us, the greatest of all services."
Wilberforce had the wisdom to see his shortcomings, the humility to admit them, and the will to fight against them.
—David Vaughan in Statesman and Saint
My Response: Something I've been defensive about that I need to face up to is …
Thought to Apply: He that won't be counseled can't be helped.
—Benjamin Franklin (scientist, publisher, diplomat)
Adapted from: Statesman and Saint (Cumberland, 2002) by permission
Inspiration from www.christianitytoday.com
