Craig T. Owens

Someone said to me, “Great job!” and then not too much later I heard someone else say, “Umm, not so much!” What’s a guy to do?

Here’s what I refocus on: I’m living for the approval of only One.

The only comment that matters to me is God saying, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”

Well done = done with excellence.

Well done = finished well, not just well begun.

Good = pleasantly done.

Faithful = trustworthy, reliable.

Servant = not my will, but Yours be done.

And when it comes to praise and criticism from men, I like this:

“Every man needs a blind eye and a deaf ear, so when people applaud, you’ll only hear half of it, and when people salute, you’ll only see part of it. Believe only half the praise and half the criticism.” —C.H. Spurgeon

UPDATE: This idea of servant leadership is a key component of my book Shepherd Leadership: The Metrics That Really Matter.