Opinions | Where do they come from & are they important | More to the Story with Nancy Jackson
Opinions, what are they really? Are they valid? Are all opinions valid? Wars have been fought over opinions, but let's discover what they really are and if they're worth fighting over. More to the story with Nancy Jackson, episode one. An opinion, according to the dictionary, is a noun.
It is a thing. Opinions are more than one noun, more than one opinion. An opinion is a view or a judgment formed about something, not necessarily based on fact or even knowledge.
We have elevated our own opinions to the point where we believe always they're true, factual, and based on knowledge. But honestly, an opinion is only as good as the truth behind it. And we fight over opinions.
We fight to the death over them, even though they may be wrong. But because they're our opinion, we have elevated them far beyond where they might need to be. So how do we know if our opinion is the right opinion and something that we should absolutely stand our ground over? Our opinions are formed on experiences and data that we've taken in.
But our opinions are only as good as the data we use to form them. If that data was inaccurate, to say the least, if that data was a lie, then our opinion is not based on truth. So what do we do about that? I once saw on Facebook a young lady post that her opinion was based on fact, that she had researched on the internet.
She had Googled and she had found cited documents exposing this or that. But unfortunately in this day and age, we can cite a document and it can be just as fraudulent as the day is long. And if a document is cited, that just means the person creating the document stands by it or can find some sort of information that backs it up.
Is that information that backs up the document accurate? We don't know. So to say that a document is cited and therefore is valid in forming our opinion may or may not be truthful. It may or may not be accurate.
It may or may not be based on truth and fact. So how do we know if our opinion is a good opinion, an opinion that we need to stand by? First of all, we do need to pray about it. And I know that sounds, oh yeah, pray about our opinions.
No, we really do. Before we go to expound our opinions out there to the world, we need to pray over them. And we need to know that it's not just an opinion that we've dug up information to support.
You want to believe your opinion is correct. Therefore, you go out to the internet or wherever and you dig up supporting documents that will bolster your opinion. But that doesn't mean your opinion is right.
If you have a question about something, research it. Research it fully. Talk to a lot of different people, even people you disagree with.
They may have a morsel of truth that you need to incorporate into your opinion. I didn't say the whole truth. I said a morsel of truth.
But we have sequestered our opinions away. We've held them tight and we've refused to change them, no matter what. Or we get our knickers in a twist and we change our opinion when really we should be holding true to the one we have.
Now I want to talk about how we disrespect others' opinions. It has become vile and violent out there. And people are disrespecting and they're tearing others apart based on an opinion.
An opinion which is just a belief. We don't have the right to do that. I'm sorry.
We do not have the right to be vile or violent against someone else for their opinion. We may not like it. We may hate it.
But we can't hate them. And yes, I get angry when I see the things said. And yes, I get angry when I see the violence seemingly nonsense over seemingly nonsense.
But I still can't hate them. Jesus doesn't hate them. What do we do then? Again, let's go back to prayer.
Let's go back to really fighting prayer in spiritual warfare. Let's really get serious about praying for them. Not this willy-nilly, oh, I pray for John, Susie, or Andrew because they disagree with me.
And I want them to see my opinion is the right one. No, we need to pray that the truth would be made known. We need to pray that scales fall off of eyes, including our own.
Because I firmly believe all of us have a tiny bit of deception somewhere. We don't know it all. None of us do.
I know that may come as a shock to you, but we don't. None of us knows it all. But are you willing to open up your mind, open up your heart to learn more so that your opinion can be modified to be more accurate? I am a questioner.
I'm a very curious person, and I have been for years and years and years. So I ask questions. When something just seems a little not right to me, if two things don't quite line up to me, I start to ask, God, this doesn't seem right.
What's the deal here? This has an element of truth to me, but then this over here has an element of truth. But honestly, they seem diametrically opposed. So how in the world can they both coexist?
