There's no shortage of critics in today's world.

Make an unpopular decision, and your opponents are throwing darts at you before you can finish a sentence.

Well, if you're growing weary of harsh criticism, you're not alone. And today, on Insight for Living,

Chuck Swindall offers seven timeless principles for handling criticism with grace and grit. His application

is drawn from the life of Paul, who modeled how to put on spiritual armor when the arrows of

accusation are headed your way.

Chuck titled today's message, dealing with critics as Paul did.

The Apostle Paul wanted the process, in the process of writing letters to churches and founding churches and mentoring the younger men who were to follow in his steps.

He came back home and he got to Jerusalem and there was no ticker tape parade.

There was no applause, no church opened the doors to say, welcome back, you hero,

you have been our model while you've been gone. There was none of that. There was, in fact,

a group of people who had followed him like a bad dog. They're called simply the Jews from Asia. They didn't even live in Jerusalem,

but these Jews from Asia were determined to make life miserable for him. So he goes on defense. The first defense begins in chapter 22 where he

speaks Aramaic to them verses 1 to 21 speaking to them about the truth. They're

standing there trying to decide what they really believe when he gets to the subject of the

Gentiles, he uses the G word, verse 21, they turn back to their riot.

How dare he even mention that blasted name in their midst.

And that defense then stops and he is taken by a commander from the Romans who is named Lassius and

Lassius brings him ultimately to the Jews Supreme Court called the Sanhedron translated verse 30

the council chapter 22 verse 30 he stood before all the

council and Paul was brought down and he addressed them and while he is

there a plot is formed against him a conspiracy but before the conspiracy at 2311. And if you don't have a red

...