With an economy that is slowly bouncing back from a recession, various reports are stating that there are not a lot of offers on the table for jobs, opportunities and advancement. But there is one offer that is always available, even when it is not warranted or asked for: an opinion!
Most of the time, people tend to have different interpretations of the same set of facts. That’s okay. However, when those differences are not celebrated it can become an assault.
Most of us want to be accepted. No one wants their thoughts or ideas attacked as to who you are as a person or your ability to rationalize. Don’t get me wrong, everybody should always seek guidance from God and those he put in your path for growth and correction, but when it is not done in love, it is not profitable to anyone.
I’m reminded of the story in St. Matthews 16: 53-55, when Jesus was done speaking to the multitude; the opinions of him were not made until he came around people who knew him.
Isn’t this the carpenter’s son? Mary is his mother. His brothers are James, Joses, Simon and Judas.
They made sure you knew they had the right person by naming his whole family. They were too busy looking at the outward man, the humanity of Jesus Christ, and not the divinity of Jesus Christ, which is why he said, “A prophet is without honor in his own country.”
People will form opinions solely because of where you come from; the problem is their opinion is most likely wrong. They may know where you come from but they don’t know where you are going!
It’s like the movie Real Steel. A little boy finds an old robot in the dumps with A-T-O-M stamped on him; he pronounced it Adam. He took the robot home and cleaned it up to fight this mammoth of a robot named Zeus in the boxing ring.
Everybody’s opinion was that the robot didn’t deserve to fight Zeus. In fact, the media called the old robot a “junk yard dog.” In the end, the people no longer saw the robot as “trash” but the “people’s champion.”
Isaiah 64:8 says, “But now, O Lord, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand.” Don’t let people’s opinion re-define you; God is the master curator and potter, and He said that you are fearfully and wonderfully made. You are simply His “work of art.”
