Accepting the truth and correction

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That will be up to the OP to decide.

If it isn’t, oh well. I wasted a few seconds typing.
 
No person is perfect.

I’ve had friends who were and are messed up six ways to Sunday and to the point where I had to stop being friends with them, who still gave me great advice from time to time that I still remember, and a couple times turned my thoughts away from suicidal ideation.

I had a confessor who reprimanded me for a certain sin in a harsh manner that made me avoid falling into that sin again, who later got involved in a scandal unrelated to me and was sent packing by his bishop.

My parents weren’t perfect and sometimes they didn’t understand me or do the perfect thing, but they loved me and they said and did the right things enough that I can overlook the 15 percent of times when they didn’t.

God uses all kinds of people. The Bible is full of stories of sinners who weren’t perfect in their own lives (David, Solomon, Samson, Jacob etc) but God still used them to carry out His purposes.
 
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Jump4Joy said:
How does a good Catholic humbly accept correction or criticism even when it’s intended to humiliate and belittle the person?
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How did Christ respond when He was humiliated and belittled?

We live in a culture that is anti-Christian (at least in the UK we do) so we should not be surprised when people wish to attack and humiliate us, we should expect this.

John 15:18, “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first”.

Now do we sometimes bring this upon ourselves by our own actions? Yes, we sometimes do. We should not jump to defend actions that are immoral and against Christ’s teachings. Should we accept criticism where it is due? Yes we should.

We should always speak the truth and be prepared to accept truth when others speak it. How it makes us feel is of no consequence.
 
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Maybe you are all of the above. My sole goal isn’t to get you banned. We seem to bump heads. I don’t always agree with your perspective perhaps because of different life experiences, temperament, or levels of maturity. Perhaps your advice wasn’t fitting. I don’t know. Maybe you can be a little cruel. I don’t know.
 
Jump4Joy said:
Maybe you are all of the above. My sole goal isn’t to get you banned. We seem to bump heads. I don’t always agree with your perspective perhaps because of different life experiences, temperament, or levels of maturity. Perhaps your advice wasn’t fitting. I don’t know. Maybe you can be a little cruel. I don’t know.
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I’ve only posted on 2 of your threads…this is your second reply to me. I’ve barley interacted with you. Are you another poster using a different account?
 
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The snowflake comment and the comment about immaturity perhaps is a reason I may feel this way. Who was that directed to?
 
Jump4Joy said:
The snowflake comment and the comment about immaturity perhaps is a reason I may feel this way. Who was that directed to?
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It was directed at exactly what I quoted-- your second premise, that people think that the Catholic church is a bunch of meanies because of their opinions.

As in, the Catholic church is a bully because they don’t want gay people to get married. That is seen as “cruel”. Many people with gay family members see it as cruel. You have those having pre-marital sex, those who are divorced, those who think the RC is oppressive for whatever reason. Those people should still listen to the church. Not wanting to listen to a 2000 year old insituion because you think they are wrong is a pretty hefty dose being a special snowflake, don’t you think. You didn’t restate that it was really about your feelings until a later post.

You’ve redirected the topic 3 times now, and it’s clear it’s personal…and not about the leaders of the Catholic Church. I can only answer the ideas that you’re putting forward.
 
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I understand. They probably think the Catholic Church is outdated or archaic. If I was a gay Catholic I’d probably want the church to marry me and my partner. They want to church to conform to their desires. Premarital sex being a sin is almost a joke. Sex and sexuality is everywhere. Some people don’t want it to be a sin so they don’t feel guilty.
It is about my personal feelings of when to listen to someone, and when not to, and when does correction and criticism become abusive.
Some will say anything harshly, critically or that disagrees with them is abusive.
I don’t want to be in that category.
At the same time, you cannot allow people to completely walk all over you because they’re right.
There is eating humble pie and there is being a doormat.
I cannot discern the difference.
 
That kind of thing is best unpacked case by case and with a professional, not on an internet forum with vague generalites.
 
I think the Church should stick firmly to its teachings. A sinner may repent but a sin is still a sin.
 
Jump4Joy said:
How does a good Catholic humbly accept correction or criticism even when it’s intended to humiliate and belittle the person?
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I think this is a very important challenge for all of us. Personally it helps me to use an examination of conscience, so that my standard is not what the other person is saying, but what God expects of me.
 
Jump4Joy said:
That’s my true question. How do you know if someone is using the truth to emotionally abuse you or elevate themselves? Is it worth it listening to such people? If I can’t trust someone, why do I have to listen to anything they say?
Some relish in the opportunity to point out your faults. They always point out something you’re doing incorrectly continuously. Sure, they are usually right but that doesn’t undermine or dismiss the cruel intentions.
I don’t trust many people when they are telling the so called truth. There is only one person I trust to give me correction.
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Yes, it does happen that there are people who use truth to humiliate you. They dislike you but know you are wrong and use truth to correct you to humiliate you.

It is uncharitable but if they dislike you in the first place, that is to be expected.

If it is the truth anyway, you still can think about it, and perhaps summon your utmost humility to do so. That’s the Christian way.

Sometimes truth hurts.

God bless.
 
Jump4Joy said:
I’m not talking specifically. Someone mentioned in another board on how we shouldn’t avoid the Catholic Church because of the hypocrisy of it’s leaders. I think most people have had hypocritical family and friends provide us with much needed advice.
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People that criticize the impurity of Catholics are not necessarily hypocritical.

Criticism of hypocrisy is always valid, though uncomfortable.

I am not sure what it means to have hypocritical family and friends provide us with “much needed advice”. I don’t find advice from others who are hypocritical to be “much needed”, though from their perspective they may seem to believe it is…
 
Jump4Joy said:
I thought about how difficult it may be to hear the truth from a person who you perceive as cruel or who may actually be cruel.
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This is a very good point. Jesus described the Sanhedrin as quite cruel, yet told the disciples they should listen to them.
 
Jump4Joy said:
Where is the difference between someone using the truth or giving you advice to humiliate or belittle you or because they care and does it matter?
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I think the difference is primarily experiential. The Truth is the Truth, whether it is delivered by the devil, or not. The devil tempted Christ in the desert.

When a person is confronting you out of care, then it is loving.
Jump4Joy said:
My perception could be wrong because I’m not open to what they’re saying.
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We should always be open to what is being said. until it is established that they are lies from the devil that need to be ignored. Sometimes our enemies are a more reliable source of feedback than our friends.
 
Feeling is not wrong per se. Wisely, you need to assess it whether it is profitable to you or not. Usually not, if they are negative feeling, unless you excel in reverse psychology.

We are to overcome our feeling if it is one to discourage or trouble our life.

Sometimes feeling of hurt can be due to pride and anger, which we have to be careful of. Our goal with regards to feeling would be to rise above it, like an eagle, soar into the sky and fly away with freedom. Then we can be more objective, which can solve lots of unnecessary pain in life.

God bless. `

God bless.
 
Put truth first. It’s absolutely human to feel pain at being slighted. But God can use the devil to teach us. If we put truth first, however, the sting is reduced, we can even welcome the slight, turning the devil’s game against him. it’s interesting that satan is called “the accuser” in Rev 12:10. It’s also true that our own pride can prevent us from acknowledging the truth, and when we do we’re playing into satan’s game.
 
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