How important is your opinion?
How important do you think your opinion is?
Do you think your opinion is more important than it really is?
The answers to these questions tell a lot about how much humility you demonstrate, and perhaps how much your thought might be bound by pride and ego.
The apostle Peter exclaimed, “God is no respecter of persons” (Acts 10:34). He could have written, “God is no respecter of your opinion.”
Why?
Because in the Big Picture of Life, what the human mind thinks or believes is not important compared to what is truth.
Truth is what matters!
If our opinion is aligned with truth, then we have something valuable to offer. If our opinion is based on material observation, physical testimony, sensations of the human mind and body, mortal sense testimony, or anything of a temporal nature, it’s contaminated by untruths. And if offered, should be done modestly and with recognition that there is room for improvement as further enlightenment is gained.
Mary Baker Eddy wrote, “Human opinions are not spiritual. They come from the hearing of the ear, from corporeality instead of from Principle, and from the mortal instead of from the immortal” (Science and Health, p. 192).
And further, she wrote, “In Christian Science mere opinion is valueless” (p. 341).
Understanding the vanity of opinion is liberating.
For instance, have you ever felt like everyone ignored your opinion? Well, no big deal. Your opinion doesn’t matter much anyway. Don’t let it bother you anymore. What really matters is not your opinion, but what is spiritually true. Put your opinion aside, figure out what is spiritually true, and rest upon that reality.
Truth always prevails no matter what others say or believe.
When you rest on Truth, rather than personal opinion, you are in a happy, secure place. You will not worry and fret over what others think. It doesn’t matter. Their opinion doesn’t matter any more than yours! Only what is true with God matters.
So, save yourself the grief that pride in personal opinion brings. Drop it. Don’t waste time with opinion. Go for the good stuff, the truth, and rest your case on an eternal foundation. You’ll be a lot happier and more enjoyable to converse with.
God’s opinion is the only point of view that prevails. And God’s opinion is found in Truth.
best thing blogged -EVER!!
An excellent article, Evan. At the risk of “giving an opinion,” I would add one thing to the list of what makes up human opinion. And that would be ’emotion.’ The divisiness in our country and in many churches is the fact that people discuss things from emotions and the other things on your list, rather than bringing facts (or truth) to the discussion. People say “well, I have a right to my opinion.” But as the saying goes, “you don’t have a right to your own facts.” Once we know the truth about anything, including our true being, harmony reigns! Thanks again for this reminder!
Thank you Evan for this most revealing blog. I am asked all the time from my Son, my friends, and family, such as cousins, as to what I thought about certain things I give it a lot of thought to each question and then the highest answer to them that has asked me. They being Non-Scientists, I can only give them what I feel they could understand. No! Truthfully, I don’t think my opinion is the exact right answer. But it does make me feel that I contributed some thing positive when they act upon what I give them and it succeeds. But I try to put God first before I answer, and that’s all I can do.
Thank you, Evan. How good it feels to read and soak in this Truth this morning. Lots of Love!
I refer readers to MBE’s statement from her Misc Writings page 224:11=28 for more on the same subject
This is so freeing! Much gratitude for this blog!
Wow! Human opinion versus God’s truth. If we begin by discounting all human experience as opinions being “valueless”, and physical observations to be contaminated by untruths, we are left with little to help us see God’s truths. Thankfully, Jesus was willing to teach from human experiences. For me, that is a big help.
Declaring what is God’s truth is not necessarily an easy task. There are many voices in the world today claiming to know the truth. For me truth is like a three legged stool. The first leg is wisdom gained from what I have read and heard. The second leg is wisdom gained from logic and reasoning. And the third leg comes from with-in, where I trust the peace and harmony I sense. I don’t believe we ever completely discount our human experience from our understanding of the truth. But hey, that’s my opinion!
Consider today’s news and challenges of these parents losing two sons and their efforts to rely upon spiritual truths. The line between truth and opinion is not necessarily always obvious.
http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2013/05/24/prosecutor-parents-refusal-to-seek-medical-attention-led-to-infants-death/?hpt=hp_t5