When first going to training camp for The World Race, leadership talked about feedback. Feedback is a required activity we have to do with our teammates once a week. When they described feedback they explained that it is a time where you can openly talk to your team about things they have done that you haven’t liked, or that you liked very much. It is a time where you can help point your teammates back to the Lord. So, what I was hearing was that it’s a time where I can be attacked by my teammates for things that they don’t like about me…great. I HATE when people tell me that something I do is annoying, or uncomfortable to them, or just wrong. I had a mentality that I never want anyone to tell me to change, because I’m good enough as I am. I was completely dreading feedback all week knowing that I will be told that I was wrong in some circumstances. I knew that this wasn’t a place that I would be able to just attack them back, so I knew it was going to be extremely hard to take criticism and just say “thank you.”
My squad mentor told us to be praying for peace and grace going into feedback, so I took her advice. I asked the Lord to just give me a soft heart that will be able to peacefully take criticism. Honestly, I doubted the power of God and had extreme anxiety over feedback. I thought of every single thing that people could correct me on to be able to prepare myself not to explode when it was given to me.
Then the hour came where it was time for all of us to cram into one room to give and receive feedback. I sat there almost shaking and the first person who talked gave me constructive feedback (the nice word for something I did wrong.) I immediately clenched my fists and began to hold back tears when they were telling me something I did that bothered them. I was just waiting for it to be over but the Lord commanded my heart to be still and actually listen to what she had to say for me. At the end of what she was saying she told me “Mack, I have a piece of scripture I want to read that can help you overcome this.”
WOAH!!! It was then that I realized that feedback is not just about reprimanding someone, it’s about making someone aware that their actions did not line up with scripture, and what Jesus would do, and it is encouraging them to get back on the right track. How cool is that? One feedback that I got from one of my teammates I did not agree with at all, but the Lord gave me a heart of joy for them. He reminded me that it is hard to tell someone something that will hurt them, but she was obedient to the Lord and knew it will realign me with how I am supposed to act. As soon as she was finished I said “thank you, next time I will be much more aware of how I respond.” I was shocked that that came out of my mouth! The Lord actually made me grateful for someone criticizing me!
So after feedback I went to the top of the property where I can see all the city lights and took that piece of advice that I didn’t agree with and I took it to the Lord. I asked him to show me where in this situation I was wrong, and what could I do to fix it. He blessed me with the truth in the situation. Which was that I was completely wrong, and I had the chance to apologize to my teammate for it, creating a stronger bond between us!!!! In the end I am extremely grateful for feedback. I know this will change my ENTIRE LIFE! I encourage all of you to ask the Lord for a soft heart to be able to accept criticism and know that it is out of love, without praying for that, feedback would have eaten me alive.
James 15:19-20 “My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.”
Thank you all for reading! I love you all!
Caio!
