We might not think that’s the case, but my guess is that if we were to tally every time we gave our perspective on a situation in any given day, we would find that there were a lot more tallies at the end of the day than we anticipated. We are quick to issue a verdict, to offer our perspective, or to express our opinion. Even more so, people are often eager to ask for such insight as they navigate their current challenges. More often than not, we want to hear what other people have to say, sometimes with the express purpose of confirming what we already think is right.
The challenge is that many times other’s people perspective is simply that – their perspective. It is not rooted in anything beyond them, but is based on their experiences, the lessons that they’ve learned, or maybe even how they feel on that particular day. What is considered “right” then is not based on some objective standard of truth, but is based on their own insights and opinions.
This is why it is important that we remember what A.W. Tozer wrote about how we can be assured that we get the right perspective. He stated:
We get our moral bearings by looking at God. We must begin with God. We are right when, and only when, we stand in a right position relative to God, and we are wrong so far and so long as we stand in any other position.
In other words, unless the perspective we espouse is the perspective of God as revealed in His Word, we are in danger of having our opinion become the standard by which we judge an action. Consequently, if those we ask for advice aren’t looking from things in “a right positive relative to God” then it is likely that their advice is similarly wrongly constructed. Our eyes must be firmly fixed on Him, and He must be the standard by which all other perspectives are evaluated, and considered for acceptance or rejection.
This is a hard thing in a world where we are taught that “everyone is entitled to their own opinion.” However, perhaps this is one of the reasons that Scripture tells us we should be “slow to speak” (Jam. 1:19). If we were, maybe we would be more likely to consider first how God views a given situation, rather than issuing our pronouncement of it.
