How we would all love to banish our Inner Critic. You know that terrible voice....the one that follows you everywhere. She has a snarky whisper that interrupts your happiest moments telling you it isn't real. The Inner Critic rains on your parade, tells you look fat in the slinkiest dress and hisses that you just said the wrong thing at a critical job interview. Worse, the Inner Critic just knows all the dreadful things everyone else is thinking about you. And she insists on blurting them out as soon as you're alone in the ladies room, in the locker room at the gym or trying to get to sleep. The Inner Critic is not a friend!

The Inner Critic moonlights as a ventriloqist, making us imagine our friends and family say nasty things. Often she takes over our voices and we find ourselves saying those same terrible things. If the Inner Critic had a body, she would be the most crotchety, friendless old lady you've ever known! And yet we let her follow us around all day and poison our enjoyment.

So how can be banish the old bat? She's part of ourselves, can't we just make her go away forever? Yes and no. It's almost impossible not to think something, no matter how unpleasant. Just try telling yourself: "I will not think about the big pimple on my forehead." Bet you can't! It's not just the pimple, it's ever pimple we had since we were twelve years old. The Inner Critic got her start as soon as you were mobile. Once you could crawl and then walk, you heard "no" a lot. Soon you discovered you could not fly, could not have everything you want and, saddest of all, could not even have all your needs met. Pesky things like reality got in the way.

Well, Old Bat, there is a big "gotcha" here. You may be the Enemy but there are thousands of years of spiritual truths telling us how to deal with you. Remember, we are all beloved children of Almighty God and here for a holy purpose. So the Inner Critic is the enemy of God. And how does the Bible tell us to handle our enemies? We all know Jesus said to turn the other cheek and love our enemies. And even a millenium earlier the Proverbs 25:21-22 told us:

"If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat; if he is thirsty, give him water to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head, and the Lord will reward you."

Wow, imagine heaping burning coals upon the Inner Critic! In football, this is known as an "end run." Spiritually, this is literally "disarming" or making your enemy your friend.

So talk to the Old Bat. Engage her when she tells you no one loves you. Invite her shopping and ask her to pick out something sexy - after all, she's already told you she knows everything! Most of all, tell her: "I love myself and you, too. Thank you for being in my life."