Bread Crumbs

T.D. Jakes authored a book some years ago, titled “Loose That Man & Let Him Go”. I never read the book – I am not that fond of the Rev. Jakes – but I found a quote that was apparently from this book, and it impressed me. I even wrote it out and stuck it up on my fridge, so that I would be frequently reminded of what it said. It went as follows:

“It doesn’t take effort, preparation, intelligence, or skill to criticize. That is why it is the favorite pastime of untrained children and unaccomplished adults.”

Criticism. Did you that there is no word found in the Hebrew or Greek of the Bible that is translated as ‘criticism’? The on-line dictionary defines criticism as “the act of passing severe judgement; faultfinding”; this activity is something that we can find examples of, just within the pages of Torah (see the brothers of Joseph, Gen 37). And while it is easy to point out examples of those we know who are quick to function in this area, are we not being critical of the criticizers?

Being critical and passing judgement on others is a contagious evil, and one that NO disciple of our Master should engage in. We are called to be ‘fruit inspectors’, for Yeshua Himself said that we would know and recognize the fruit other folks are producing (Mat 7:16-20). We have a list provided for us of what all of the negative, fleshly fruit are (Gal 5:19-21), and how to recognize them. On the flip side, we have the list of the fruit of the Kadosh Breath of Elohim, also found in Galatians 5, and if we are truthful with ourselves, we can see where we have not successfully cultivated these fruit.

Kindness and gentleness are two of the fruit, and those who participate in ‘severely criticizing’ others will, most often, be lacking in these two fruit. Peace and self-control are two more fruit we need to encourage in ourselves; they too would be lacking in the one who is obsessive about criticizing other people. Finally, someone with a ‘critical spirit’ is most likely one that is wrapped up in ‘self-sovereignty’, thinking more of themselves and their supposed worth.

However, Adonai embraces the one who is of a contrite and humble spirit (Isa 57:15), something that is not synonymous with the one who criticizes. Let us spend more time looking inward, checking our own fruit, and making sure we don’t have those pesky weeds trying to choke them out.

Be blessed, y’all.

©2025