Whoever trusts in his own mind is a fool,

but he who walks in wisdom will be delivered.

Proverbs 28:26

One of the fatal flaws of humanity is we all think we are right about our opinions. We all like to suppose our perspective is the right one. 

We often forget our perspectives have been formed by our upbringing, family of origin, country, city, ethnic culture, temperament, time in history, education, religion, and socio-economic experiences.

Add to that, information sources, whether they be YouTube, news channels, online sources, social media, gossip, podcasts, radio, or uncle Joe.

What we often fail to take into account is: 

our mind is limited,

our information is limited,

our perspectives are biased

and the corruption of sin has dramatically

affected our ability to see everything clearly.

This is why we are a fool if we trust in our own mind. If we are paying attention, we should have a fair amount of skepticism about our own opinions and perspectives. We should know that no matter who we are, we are wrong about some of the things we deeply believe.

The Bible calls this humility.

Humility is having a right perspective

about yourself and your limits.

Humility will cause us to even doubt some of our own opinions.

So how do we navigate this problem with wisdom?

1.) God is all wise and sees all truth and all perspectives at the same time. We need His Word and we need prayer to discern the difference between our faith and our opinions.

2.) We need community. I don’t mean a friend group or social gatherings, I mean church community. We need people who love Jesus and have different perspectives than us. We need a community that is pursuing God and His Word so we might sharpen each other.

As the old proverb says, “the eye cannot see the eye.” Neither can we always see where we are off. We need others to see what we cannot see.

3.) Don’t spiritualize our opinions. Sometimes we are so convinced we are right about things that we insist people see it our way. We might even act like our opinions have God’s endorsement. This is essentially breaking the 3rd commandment and taking the Lord’s name in vain.

4.) Hold opinions loosely and hold to the Word of God tightly.

5.) Don’t allow ourselves to be threatened by the opinions of others. They might be wrong or right, but it never needs to be a cause for division.

6.) It’s ok to disagree about opinions. Don’t let it ruin relationships in the church. We will all have differing perspectives on politics, parenting, Christian freedoms, money, lifestyle and whatever else. 

7.) Seek to understand MORE than we seek to be understood.

May we at All Souls Church walk in wisdom and not trust our own minds!

Grace and peace,

Pastor Harvey