Opinions

The funny thing about opinions is, we all have them! Each of us have opinions on just about everything, which in itself is not a bad thing. Some of our opinions are about small, insignificant things that don’t have much impact on our lives. Other are on more important, significant things that may have direct impact on our lives. 

As more begins to unfold in our culture and world, more opinions are shared. Just scroll through Facebook, Twitter or turn on the news. Hearing and reading so many opinions lately has got me thinking: How do we handle our opinions with wisdom?

Here are a few thoughts:

• Find some safe people to share your opinions with. 

Get it out of your system! We all need close, trusted friends and family that we can just be unfiltered with. Now, if we are always unfiltered with them, we may drain them, so tread lightly! But still, we all need to find those safe people that we can truly trust and be real with. That’s usually a smaller, select group of people. 

• Be wise about when to share your opinions.

Our opinions shouldn’t always be shared. Just because you’re thinking it, doesn’t mean you should say it! Who’s around? What’s the group and context like? Do you personally know everyone that’s listening? Are you unsure about how someone will react if you share your opinion? Could you possibly hurt someones feelings or offend them? These are all questions we should consider before we share our opinions with certain people. The phrase “think before you speak” could really be helpful here. Use discernment!

• Be ready to challenge your opinions.

Opinions are opinions…just that! Opinions aren’t always facts. Something could be true for you, but not for someone else. If you are a Christian reading this, your opinions should never override God’s Word. If our opinions are contradictory to God’s Word, God doesn’t need to change, we do! But if God’s Word doesn’t directly speak to a specific opinion, we should be slow and wise. We should pray, seek Godly counsel and even speak with different people. Personally, I think it’s healthy for us to surround ourselves with different people and hear from them. If everyone we talk to is just like us, or has the same opinions as us, how can we grow and be challenged? It’s wise to be intentional with people that are different than us, yet also filter everything through God’s Word. 

• Be humble. 

Please, don’t be that person! Don’t be the one who is constantly telling everyone else that they are wrong and you are right. Pride is dangerous and we all struggle with it, but don’t let it consume you. Don’t let the news and political climate consume you. Don’t let your opinions about COVID and masks consume you. Don’t let your thoughts about other people consume you. Christian, feed and fill your mind with the truth of God’s Word over everything else. Remain humble and don’t be quick to think that you have all the answers! 

I think this is a powerful verse that should be applied to our opinions:

Ephesians 4:29-32: “Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.”

So, do we we have opinions? Of course! The better question to ask ourselves is: Are we being wise with our opinions?