Do you like hearing compliments, words of thanks, and recognition? Me too! After all, it lifts our spirits, improves our mood, and puts a smile on our faces. It's always nice!

But, unfortunately, such pleasant words are unlikely to help us grow as individuals. They won’t make us wiser, help us make better decisions in life, deepen our understanding of the world, our relationships with others and with God, develop our gifts, or hone our abilities. Such words enrich our lives only for a moment. And what can truly transform our lives and change them for the better is precisely what we often do not want to hear.

This is what we call criticism or rebuke: when someone speaks the truth about our lives, drawing our attention to our failures, bad habits, addictions, and weaknesses; when another person helps us recognize our mistakes or even our sins against others or ourselves. This is our chance to understand something important about ourselves and others—something we hadn’t seen or didn’t want to notice before. It is precisely this kind of conversation that can teach us to live better, to gain insight, to repent, and to make amends. But who likes conversations like that? Who enjoys hearing about their own failures? Is that really pleasant? Shouldn’t we just remind such a person that we’re all flawed—including the person we’re talking to—and quickly move on to another topic without ever really learning anything?! Maybe we should even start avoiding that person?! «Who does he even think he is!» On this subject, the Word of God—which often convicts and teaches us if we read it regularly—offers important advice: don’t try to point out a fool’s mistakes—such a person won’t understand anything anyway. Contribute to the life of a wise person: she or he will listen, reflect, come to realize the truth, and make a change in their life. Which type of person are you?