Don't criticize!

Men… whose tongue is a sharp sword. (Salmo 57:4)

Who spread slander is a fool. (Proverbs 10:18)

We are surprised that a great servant of God like the apostle Paul was forced to defend his apostolic authority and even his right to be considered an apostle of the Lord. And so it happened, and this confirms to us that he is a servant of the Lord, however faithful he is, it is rarely without criticism. The detractors have always existed; you want out of jealousy and envy, either because of the constant action of the enemy aimed at hindering the work of the Lord and especially the work of evangelization. Paul had not followed Jesus come Peter, Giovanni and the others, he had not been a disciple of his when the Lord was alive; but the Lord had appeared to him from glory, he had called him and had given him the task of going among foreigners and bringing the Gospel of God's grace.

Paul knew he was faithful, and he goes so far as to say that he did not care about being judged by the believers of Corinth and that, rather, he did not even judge himself because he was not aware of any guilt (1 Corinthians 4:3-4).

Criticism always hurts and, especially for those who work for the Lord, I'm a hard burden to carry. To the chapter 9 Paul writes:

“I am not an apostle? I have not seen Jesus, our Lord? If for others I am not an apostle, at least they are for you; because you are the seal of my apostolate, in the Lord”.

And then, in the second letter, opens his heart to the dear brothers of Corinth and lists a series of events and moral characteristics sufficient to recommend him and his collaborators “as God's servants”, and so evident as not to give rise to doubts about their calling. We always keep in mind Giacomo's exhortation: “Don't speak badly of each other, brothers… You, who are you judging your neighbor? ” (Giacomo 4:12).