Change My Heart, O God

In a book that I am reading in my queit time, this morning I found this quote by Charles Sprugeon.

"Many hearers lose much blessing through criticizing too much, and meditating too little; and many more incur great sin by calumniating those who live for the good of others. True pastors have enough of care and travail without being burdened by undeserved and useless fault-finding. We have something better to do than to be for ever answering every malignant or frivolous slander which is set afloat to injure us...
There are tender, loving spirits who feel the trial very keenly, and are sadly hindered in brave service by cruel assaults. The rougher and stronger among us laugh at those who ridicule us, but upon others the effect is very sorrowful...
As ministers we are very far from being perfect, but many of us are doing our best, and we are grieved that the minds of our people should be more directed to our personal imperfections than to our divine message...
Filled with the same spirit of contrariety, the men of this world depreciate the ministers who God sends them and profess that they would gladly listen if different preachers could be found. Nothing can please them, their cavils are dealt out with heedless universality. Cephas is too blunt, Apollos is too flowery, Paul is too argumentative, Timothy is too young, James is too severe, John is too gentle...
Well then, let each servant of God tell his message in his own way. To his own Master he shall stand or fall...Judge the preacher if you like, but do remember that there is something better to be done than that, namely, to get all the good you can out of him, and pray his Master to put more good into him."

What an amazing comment. As a pw, I love that this is a defense for my husband who hears all the complaints and few of the compliments....but I know that I too have been guilty of this myself. The last paragraph is a great reminder for us all to pray for our pastors whether they are our husbands or not. I know that I sometimes pray for God to change my husband but usually it is from a selfish perspective as his wife and not for the Kingdom good. What a reminder to change my prayer for him. And also a reminder to pray for a change in myself.....I'm left humming this song this morning: "Change my heart, O God. Make it ever true. Change my heart, O God, may I be like you. You are the potter, I am the clay. Mold me and make me, this is what I pray......"