'A voice of gladness'
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A sign outside a country church bore a simple message: "Jesus came to lift us up, not put us down."
As we follow His footsteps, we strive to buoy and inspire, build and strengthen, and encourage and ennoble rather than belittle or demean others by finding fault in them and criticizing what they do.
In the gospel of Jesus Christ is heard "A voice
of gladness! A voice of mercy from heaven,
One indicator of charity, certainly, must be the demonstration of tolerance for the mistakes of others. Most people know their own weaknesses. They know when they've failed and, many times, when they have made mistakes. Few need to have their shortcomings pointed out by others. Yet it seems that some people are prone to criticize, to call attention to others' mistakes.
Sometimes it is beneficial for a mistake to be brought to light, especially in circumstances in which the individual who committed the error has an opportunity to correct it or, at least, avoid making a similar mistake in the future. But in many cases, little or nothing can be done except, perhaps, for those who made the mistakes to apologize. When apologies are offered, critics ought to accept them in a spirit of forgiveness.
Words are powerful. They can be tools that build or weapons that destroy. Words of praise can lift and encourage; words of criticism can deflate and discourage. Mark Twain is said to have commented that he could live two months on one good compliment.
"A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver." (Prov. 23:11.) While words spoken in kindness can brighten days, comments uttered by critical tongues can tarnish what otherwise could have been pleasant events and diminish noble efforts.
Critical, negative words are as thorns strewn among seedlings, thereby reducing the harvest from abundance to a reaping that produces lesser value.
Little creativity — or intelligence — is required to find fault in others. Criticizing, which sometimes comes in the form of gossip and is actually the passing of judgment on others, is so common in some circles that it seems the natural thing to do. When people engage in negative criticism, they employ one of the most often used tools of the adversary. Apparently, such behavior has been part of the human family throughout history. The Savior admonished:
"Judge not unrighteously, that ye be not judged: but judge righteous judgment.
"For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.
"And why beholdest thou the mote that in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?
"Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye?
"Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt you see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye." (JST Matt. 7:1-5.)
A modern-day synopsis might be: "Unless we have no faults of our own, we are not qualified to judge others."
In some circumstances, actions can be measured. For example, in an archery competition contestants are given points for what they actually hit. No points are given if contestants aim for the target but miss. In life, however, intentions sometimes should be weighed. We cannot be fair judges of others' behaviors because we do not know what is in their hearts. We see end results, much as a judge in the archery competition sees how close the arrow comes to the center of the target. What we do not — and cannot — see are the motives behind actions.
President Harold B. Lee said, "Conversion must mean more than just being
a 'card carrying' member of the Church with a tithing receipt,
"Knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifieth," wrote Paul to the saints at Corinth as he cautioned them about the danger of setting a bad example lest they "become a stumbling block to them that are weak." (1 Cor. 8:1, 9.)
Words spoken in a critical vein can become stumbling blocks that cause others to loose their footing or to veer from proper paths. In our day-to-day lives, let us look for what we can praise in others rather than faults to condemn.
