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“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs with thankfulness in your hearts to God.” Colossians 3:16 (ESV)

Ask any published author and they will tell you they have developed “thick-skin.” That’s right. Tough skin so they can handle all those re-writes, critiques and changes that editors bring their way. Writing is personal and laborious, and we get attached to our words real quick. It’s hard to be objective and we easily get blinded to our own errors. The real polishing happens when another set of eyes reviews and edits the work. Painful process? Yes, but no one wants to publish a book full of mistakes, so writers develop “thick-skin” – a learned ability to thrive and flourish in the midst of re-writes.

Life is kind of the same way. We can isolate ourselves and determine no one knows what’s best for us. We can dig our heels in deep, plant ourselves firmly and refuse to entertain the thought we could be wrong. We can convince ourselves that everyone else is trying to rob us of best. Done that one way too many times.

We’re quirky people when it comes to listening and opening ourselves up to another opinion. Once we make a decision based on what we want to do it is often difficult for us to see another possibility or evaluate negative consequences. Isolation sets us up for “one view,” and the consequences that follow will rock our world. Stubborn never serves us well.

Best solution – learn to have “thick-skin” and a tender heart. Impossible? No way. Embrace godly counsel and input. Resist the urge to know it all. Guard against run away emotions. Welcome a teachable heart that is humble and moldable to God’s ways. And don’t get offended when the truth rises to the surface -welcome rewrites so we won’t get blinded to our own desires. Leave margin for God to speak into our lives without a prideful attitude overriding His wisdom. End result – we can avoid a life of mistakes and choose to thrive and flourish even with our “thick skin.”

“Father help us to remove our tendency to be prideful and our resistance to godly counsel. Teach us the benefits of having a teachable spirit and tender heart.”

For His Glory

Janet Martin
TRBC Women’s Life