Idolizing my opinion

I have been opinionated most of my life. I seriously don’t ever remember not having something to say. I was always very strong in my convictions and never scared to share them, and for most of my life it has served me well. However, as I have grown older and wiser, I have realized that Its more important to me to have meaningful things to say versus just speaking to be heard. And It is more important to say what God says over what I think.

 I know all of us have read about idols in the bible. Everything from people worshipping statutes to trees and animals. The term idol can be broadly defined, but it is a person or thing that is greatly admired, loved or revered. Well guess what? I realized that I had made an idol out of my own opinion. You didn’t even think that was possible did you? I respected my opinion so much that I was always giving it, assuming that it was right. I always felt like people should want it because I was so wise lol… But more importantly, I began to esteem it over the way God says to do things.

 Ladies, if you are anything like me you know we are guilty of this at times. We want the best for people so we share our opinion, we tell them what we would do if we were them. We tell our boyfriends and husbands what they should do and when they don’t do it or receive our advice, we nag them to death. This doesn’t make for great relationships. Trust me. I have failed at a few.

 Don’t misunderstand me, I am not saying that we should discount the things we know, or dismiss the unction of the holy spirit. However, I am saying that we can be mindful of what we share, how we share and when we share. I feel very honored that God has chosen to reveal things to me, and I feel that in most areas he has given me good judgement and principles by which I live my life. However, I think sometimes we can let our life be our opinion. We don’t always have to tell people. We can show them. We also have to come to terms with the fact that sometimes people have to learn the hard way and we can’t always save them. We have to trust that God has made provision for mistakes too and those are a part of the plan as well.

 If we notice something wrong or out of order in a person’s life our first response should be to pray for them. Then, ask God if he would have you say something and if the answer is yes, he will tell you what to say. God may be showing you just so you can pray. Your response should honor God. Everything we do in life should give glory to God. We exist to worship him. John 7:18 says “Whoever speaks on their own does so to gain personal glory, but he who seeks the glory of the one who sent him is a man of truth, there is nothing false about him.” Let this be your standard the next time you open your mouth to give your opinion. We should only be speaking if what we are saying honors God, otherwise we have nothing worth listening to.