There is a certain benefit in a critic.
I’ve been mulling over my post about silencing my inner critic and I realized there is another side to the story.
The critic I wrote about is the dehabilitating inner-critic. It’s the one one who tells you “stop trying” “you can’t” “you’re not good enough” and asks “who do you think you are?” The one that shuts down your creative process completely.
But there is another critic, one who refines you and your message. It’s the gentle whisper (or loud hollering!) saying maybe that’s not the right way, maybe that story is best kept close, maybe there’s a better time or place or manner or attitude to tell it in. It checks for content, accountability, and honesty.
The refining critic encourages instead of discourages. It tells you to strive for better and to show the whole love of God through your writing instead of our own cracked version of love. Or it tells you to share the broken version so we can see God shining through the cracks.
Sometimes refining might sound like the silencing but there’s a difference between exhortation and criticsim.
Exhortation includes an emphasis on hope and future improvement. Silencing criticism just says “This is bad” which is easily confused with “you are bad”.
The silencing critic shuts the process down.
The refining critic breathes fresh life into your art.
Our inner critic can have two voices: one that attacks our worth and one the constructively interacts with our need to create.
We have to choose which to listen to.
Erika Shirk 
Those two voices speak to me as I mother, also– one condemning, the other refining. SO important to reject the condemning voice–yet wise to hear the Holy Spirit nudging us toward growth.
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Yes! And depending on the day choosing the right critic to listen to in parenting is twice as hard as elsewher. Thanks for being my wise momma :)
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So true! Sometimes it’s hard to know which one is which.
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Yes, it is. Goodness. All we can do is ask God for wisdom and discernment. Blessings to you, Betsy!
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One makes us stop and think, but the other makes us stop and worry or cry.
Which one do we usually listen to?
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Yeah, worry is an easier thing to do than constructive thinking. Which one do we usually do? That is a good question to think on. Thanks for your words, Janet!
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So true! beautiful! thanks for sharing!
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Thank you for stopping by this week, Sybil! :)
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I like the idea of a refining critic. Perhaps that voice is the constructive one that tells you like it is, but in love. I think I’ll choose to hear that one instead of the harsh, bully of a voice that more often comes out.
Christy @ A Heartening Life
http://www.ahearteninglife.com
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That sounds right, Christy! Thanks for taking the time to comment!
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