By Danny Minton

The world today is full of people criticizing others; what they believe, how they look, what they say, their religion, their political views, their lifestyle, and just about any choice they make with which they disagree. Social media provides an easy platform to express a person’s opinions about others, often anonymously or under a pseudonym. People spend a lot of time not just finding fault, but actively looking for things about others to criticize. No one is immune to the eyes of people who want to disapprove. 

Unfortunately, I’ve found myself stuck in the same mindset at times. It’s then that I have to remind myself of the words of Jesus in the message He spoke to the crowd from the hillside. “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.” Matthew 7:3-5 (NIV2011) James later writes, “⁹ Don’t grumble against one another, brothers and sisters, or you will be judged. The Judge is standing at the door!” James 5:9 (NIV2011) 

Going through my files, I came across the following poem that reminds us, before we criticize others, to take a little walk around ourselves. 

A Little Walk Around Yourself
When you’re criticizing others
And are finding here and there
A fault or two to speak of
Or a weakness you can’t bear.

When you’re blaming someone’s weakness
Or accusing one of pelf—(ill-gotten gain)
It’s time that you went out
To take a walk around yourself.

There are lots of human failures
In the average of us all,
And lots of grave shortcomings
In the short ones and the tall.

But when we think of evils
Men should lay upon the shelves,
It’s time we all went out
To take a walk around ourselves.

We need so often in this life
This balancing of scales,
This seeing how much in us wins,
And how much in us fails;

But before you judge another
Just to lay him on the shelf–
It would be a splendid plan
To take a walk around yourself.

(From Poems That Inspire (Zondervan, 1960. This poem is now in the public domain. Most have it as author unknown, although some attribute it to Helen Welshimer)

Constant criticism over all sorts of things has contributed to a great divide among people of all ages and walks of life in today’s society. It will continue, sometimes with good intentions and other times divisively, kindling hate and mistrust between people.

The solution lies in recognizing that there is only one person we can control to help remove negative thoughts and bring people together, rather than divide them through words of criticism. That person lies with the hearts and minds of each of us. I cannot control you, but I can control myself. 

So, next time before you criticize someone, step back and “Take a Little Walk Around Yourself.” 

Danny Minton, a member of Southern Hills Church of Christ, is a hospital chaplain