‘It’s just an interesting point of view’

Everyone has an opinion, many times it comes across as a judgment and some opinions can cause extreme offence and/or arguments, it’s like a person’s opinion can affect your whole state of being.

Imagine how we could combat anger and people’s unkind opinions if we just thought about it as ‘an interesting point of view’.

I get customers that walk into my shop and feel quite at ease telling me bluntly that a ring I made is ugly, not once thinking I could feel hurt. Thankfully, I can think in my head that they have no taste at all but instead say, “that’s an interesting point of view you have. It’s not my point of view, however you are welcome to your point of view.”

If we treated each unwanted opinion with this view in mind our lives could be a lot easier. Of course in our minds we may have a string of our own opinions, and these may seem harmless to us, but they can cause hurt to other people.

There are other, stronger opinions too though. And although they are only opinions, they are sometimes presented as facts. This can sway an unsuspecting person who may not be aware of the consequences. Unscrupulous people can feed off the insecurities of others to make them follow their ideas. These ideas though only opinions can confuse our moral compass, and make us unsteady in what we believe. This is when we need to question such opinions in our hearts and minds and say, “that’s an interesting point of view however, it is not mine”.

I like the following verse from the Bible “Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, ‘He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.’” (Psalm 91:1-2, NIV)

If we make God the centre of our moral compass, how can we go wrong?