"His mind was like cement - thoroughly mixed up and firmly set." It's not wrong to hold on to your own private opinion as long as it won't hurt the rest of us. You can prefer chocolate over vanilla. You can think you look good wearing green. For myself, I once owned a pale green leisure suit that made me look like a big pistachio. I thought I looked good when I wore that colorful suit to a friend's wedding. Thankfully, I married a style-conscious lady who taught me better.
Opinions can be extreme as long as they don't damage other people. But, if you think biological gender distinctions in boys and girls can be switched, you are in serious error. If you think you can speed down Interstate 49 while blind-folded, you're dead wrong, and likely, you'll be dead.
Opinions are a dime a dozen. Opinions differ from convictions. Everybody has opinions just like everybody has ear lobes. And they all differ. You're entitled to your opinion, but opinions change like the weather. However, convictions settle deeper and have the power to affect our lives. People argue over opinions, but they won't die for them. Not so with some convictions.
I was of the opinion that Tiger Woods had ruined his life and career based on his foolish choices, his back injuries, and his multiple surgeries. But his amazing return to golf and winning the championship at the Masters convinced me otherwise. My opinion shifted.
No one should make life-altering decisions based on lightly-held opinions. No one should be so careless. Beliefs, however, are usually more substantial. As a college student, I believed I could do the news at a radio station, and I did it. My previous experiences had convinced me. Beliefs should be backed by rigorous examination, by evidence. As President Reagan once said, "Trust, but verify." Core beliefs ought to be reliable.
So many people are fixated on Donald Trump, Brexit, or Global Warming that they don't pay attention to deep personal matters. The whole American culture, especially the educational system, is being stewed in a slow cooker of media-formulated opinions. These opinions are shallow. No one thinks deeply about important matters as they should. Core beliefs matter.
What is a belief? The book, "Out of the Maze," by Spenser Johnson, uses this phrase: "A belief is a thought that you trust is true." I like that. It works for me. If that's so, then how do you know that you can trust your thoughts? I've said, "Truth, when examined, gets stronger. Error, when examined, gets weaker." Have you examined your ideas?
Take anything important, any big idea, whether about this earthly life or eternity, and hold it up to scrutiny. Some verses from the Bible show that God welcomes us using our logical minds. "Come now, let us reason together." "My thoughts are higher than your thoughts."
One reason I love the Scriptures in the Bible is that they show us God's thoughts. The fact is, if we get misled in our thinking, we may not know it when we're deceived. It's good to know God's higher ideas, his holy thoughts, so that we can think clearly and rationally about things.
Whether it is sexuality, evolution, the origin of life, why we pray, the purpose of government, or being true to our spouse, we need to know what God thinks. Don't live your life based on amusing entertainers. Read the Bible. Your life is worth too much to live it without due consideration, without thinking deeply about what is truly important.
RON WOOD IS A WRITER AND MINISTER. CONTACT HIM AT [email protected] OR VISIT WWW.TOUCHEDBYGRACE.ORG. THE OPINIONS EXPRESSED ARE THOSE OF THE AUTHOR.
Religion on 04/24/2019