One of the best tests of a man’s character is how he receives admonition. Men can reach a point in life where, after years of being “the man” and holding positions of authority, they begin to imagine themselves beyond correction. They fancy themselves right about nearly everything, until eventually “wrong” becomes whatever they disagree with.

Solomon observed, “Better is a poor and wise youth than an old and foolish king who will be admonished no more.” (Ecclesiastes 4:13)

A.W. Tozer describes such a man in sobering terms: “Regardless of how he arrived at his hardened state, the bell had already tolled for him…His wizened old body still held together to provide a kind of movable tomb to house a soul already dead.”

The Pharisees were repeatedly rebuked by the Lord Jesus, yet they stubbornly resisted His admonitions to their own destruction. “We be Abraham’s seed,” they boasted, dismissing His words as insulting rather than receiving them as a warning. Their position, knowledge, and religious reputation had made them so confident in themselves that they could no longer hear the truth.

I have lived long enough to see this same arrogance many times in men who held positions of leadership. Some of these “old and foolish kings” have fallen even further by allowing themselves indulgence in pleasures they should have resisted.

If you have been entrusted with a measure of authority and you receive this post as a needed reminder, then others will continue to benefit from your leadership. However, should you be slightly offended or put off by it then it is likely you already reside in your “movable tomb” and there is not much that can be done outside divine intervention. A heart that can no longer receive correction is already in dangerous territory.

So, here is a bit of advice from an elder statesman in the church, and one who recognizes the tendencies of his own flesh.

1. Resist being defensive.

When you are criticized, resist the immediate impulse to defend yourself. Listen before you respond. Consider the old saying: “If the criticism is false, it cannot hurt you; if it is true, you needed to hear it and need to act on it.”

Not every criticism is justified, but every criticism deserves honest consideration. Sometimes the most uncomfortable words we hear are the ones God uses to expose something in us that needs to change.

2. Do not obsess over your accomplishments.

The longer we live and the more we accomplish, the easier it becomes to build a résumé in our minds that becomes a defense against correction. So, instead of constantly rehearsing what you have accomplished, it might be more profitable to consider what more you may have accomplished had you been more sensitive to the Spirit’s leading.

Jesus reminded His disciples that even after doing everything commanded of them, they were still to say, “We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.” (Luke 17:10) Our accomplishments are gifts of grace, not grounds for pride.

3. Ignore the source of the correction.

It should not ultimately matter whether admonition comes from friend or foe. The real question is not, “Who said it?” but “Is it true?” We are often tempted to dismiss criticism because we don't like the person giving it. But God can use an unlikely messenger to tell us something we desperately need to hear.

We are often tempted to dismiss criticism because we don't like the person giving it.

In that sense, an enemy may sometimes be more valuable than a friend. A friend may tell us what we want to hear; an enemy may say what everyone else is afraid to say. So listen carefully. Test the words. Search your heart. And if the criticism is true, have the humility to receive it, even from someone you would rather not hear it from.

4. Receive God’s discipline with grace.

Consider the great men of God who experienced His chastening. David, for one, learned to bow humbly beneath the Lord’s correction. His failures were painful, but God used His discipline to bring David to repentance and restoration. “My son, do not despise the LORD’s discipline or be weary of his reproof, for the LORD reproves him whom he loves, as a father the son in whom he delights.” (Proverbs 3:11–12)

Correction is not necessarily evidence that God has abandoned us. It may be evidence that He loves us too much to leave us as we are. The real danger is not being corrected. The real danger is becoming the kind of person who can no longer be corrected.

A wise man welcomes the mirror, even when he doesn't like what he sees.