Opinion - Part 5
Scripture Reading - Genesis 39:3-4 1965 Bible in Basic English (BBE)
3 And his master saw that the Lord was with him, making everything he did go well.
4 And having a high opinion of Joseph as his servant, he made him the overseer of his house and gave him control over all he had.
In today’s lesson we will continue to speak on the topic of “speaking your mind which we are using the single word “opinion”. In a previous lesson on expressing your “opinion” we elaborated on three traits to have present before “speaking your thoughts”. The first was being content to be quiet because speaking too much causes problems and trying to fix those problems once spoken only brings more conversation which causes more problems, so on and so forth. The second was being mindful not to talk back or speak over those in authority and please give first place to elders when speaking around them. We know this is pleasing in God’s Eyes and it is polite and bright to treat people right. Amen! Thirdly, we spoke about bringing God on the scene by speaking the Mind of Christ which is basically the “opinion of God” concerning all things upon the earth, inside the earth and all things above the earth. We also taught a lesson on speaking your own “personal opinion” and not mingling God into it. Yes, we highlighted the fact that many Christians think their interpretation of God is God but God is described, explained and interrupted through God’s Holy Word alone, so never think that your own “personal opinion” is equivalent to the Holy Scriptures as God’s voice to all mankind. In another lesson we touched on weighing the “popular opinion of men” against God’s Word. We should never assume that what we are hearing from others is good simply because the “popular opinion” of men thinks it is good. We are not trained to follow the crowd but we are created to follow Jesus. Also, in a previous lesson we looked into reviewing your “own opinion” of yourself. That specific lesson taught on not thinking too highly or lowly of yourself but rather staying humble by adopting “God’s Opinion” of you as your very “own opinion” of yourself. Today’s topic of discussion will switch from your “opinion” of yourself to the “opinions” of others about you. Now we know many people (Christians) would think, “Oh the “opinions of others” don’t matter to me because God loves me, for I am a child of God.” Now let’s examine that thought in detail because there is some truth in that statement. The truth we find solid (undisputable) is that God loves you no matter what! This is so true that it needs no further explanation for God is Love and His Love is personally tailored just for you so that you can know Him better through consistent fellowship. The statement, “I am a child of God” is definitely true for all Christians so we whole heartedly agree with that part of the statement. We also agree that the “opinions” of evil men are normally contrary to God and although real we shouldn’t let them change our “opinion of ourselves” because we see ourselves as God sees us. However, the “opinions of others” should matter to us because some of those others are people we have relationship with. In our reference verse we see that Joseph’s master (some would say owner in the days of slavery) had a “favorable opinion” about Joseph. This “favorable opinion” about Joseph did matter significantly because Joseph was promoted to a higher level of responsibility and this higher level of responsibility gave Joseph a higher level of freedom. If we keep a positive attitude with God and our fellow man God can arrange it so that even if you are not in complete control of your own life you can still live a good and productive life. Knowing that Philippians 4:13 KJV is true helps our positive attitude for, “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” Yes, the “opinion” of certain people within your sphere of influence is definitely important because whether you realize it or not sometimes “their opinion of you” as a born-again child of God is their “opinion about God”. It is for this very reason that we (ihlcc) try to default to the side of mercy in decisions concerning others primarily because that is God’s default mode. Oh, please don’t misunderstand us about showing mercy when the scripture is clear and we know the other person (or other party) knows what they did is wrong, we don’t accept excuses or no accountability. However, if the other party (or person) is younger in the Lord we don’t speak to them harshly or even start to chastise them as an evil wicked person because mercy won’t do that. Also, mercy thinks the best of people and sees the potential in people as opposed to the actions of the flesh which can be selfish and unkind at times when mistakes are made by those who are imperfect (which we all could qualify for that title at various times in our life). The point we are making is that when we act merciful before others as representatives of the Kingdom of God “their opinion” of us matters because if we show people the wrong picture of God they could lose their interest in God. The encouragement to all believers is to consider the “opinions of others” to see if “their opinion” is favorable or unfavorable because it does matter. Yes, if someone thinks lowly of you because the way you come off to them, ok, look into it to see if you can make some changes. If you find out your boss doesn’t like people talking around the coffee maker, ok, think about stopping all conversations around the coffee maker. If you know your mother doesn’t like your coming home after 11:00PM then simply come home before 11PM. Someone could say, “That is ridiculous, why do I need to change for the “opinion” of another?” We (ihlcc) would answer, “You don’t but just know you are acting selfishly by not considering the partnership and “opinions” of those you deal with on a regular basis. The question we would then pose to you is, “What would Love do?” Since we know love puts the other person first when it can, we would strongly consider changing our way for the way of another which doing so would be The Way of God. Remember, Philippians 2:3-4 KJV which states, “Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.” This means the “opinions of others” really do matter and the “other opinions” should not be taken lightly. Yes, there will be some who have a “negative opinion” about you but at least run “their opinion” to the test of God’s Word and His Love and if you find out the “opinion” isn’t based on anything good and they choose to hate you instead of love you. Disregard that specific “opinion” of you from that other because Satan and those of the kingdom of darkness will always have a “negative opinion” about you, no matter what. However, there is always a portion of people who could have a “positive opinion” of you if you would make some incremental changes to your approach to them (interactions with them). Likewise, anyone who currently has a “good opinion” of you is more likely to help you in any way that they can which is good and right before God because you never know who God could use to bless you in your life. We, as believers in Jesus Christ must realize that God works through people and if the “opinion” of some is that you are hard to get along with it can hinder God’s Blessing from coming to you in their fullness simply because if someone doesn’t like you they might not listen to God if He wanted them to do something good and special for you. We all remember how God had to negotiate with Ananias to bless Paul in Acts 9:10-18 because Ananias “opinion” of Paul was negative at one time but praise be to God it changed. So in summary the “opinions of others” matter whether good or bad. The “good opinions” of you from others means you are doing well, congratulations and praise God but if you know of any “unfavorable opinions” in your life that you are involved with on a regular basis see if you can make some small changes to bless the other person and if you can, please do so because it will make your life a little better and it will help the other person too which in turn will please the Lord. That is God’s Will for all men to be blessed together in unity and peace causing a “good opinion” of you in God’s Mind. Amen!