Day 2556 of the 7 day Bible verse challenge.
Proverbs 18:2 NIV
There are just those verses that need no explanation. This is one of them. It's something that we see constantly anymore. Yesterday we talked about how everyone is just angry and hateful. Seems like almost everyone only exists to argue. Now to me, that seems like a really sad and really hollow existence. But it's something that each person must decide for themselves. How do we choose to spend our time on this earth?
Do we want to live to prove ourselves? Do we feel this unshakable desire to be validated in life? Do we chase the approval and acceptance of the world around us, regardless of what it may cost us? Do we find some great appeal in the praise of this world? Are we willing to spend our time fighting some seriously petty fights that will mean nothing in the end so long as it makes us feel important, powerful, or special for a while?
Sadly, that seems to be enough for quite a few out there. Always talking but never listening. Always jumping to conclusions while never waiting for the facts. Always picking a side without stopping to consider all perspectives. Just going where people yell the loudest thinking that they have the most power. That's what people in life apparently. Not happiness. Not peace. Not an understanding of the bigger scope of life. Just power. Just praise and pride and some sense of superiority.
The temporary highs of proving your point or justifying why you're correct seems like a hard rabbit to keep chasing. Seems like there's always going to be another battle or argument to join in on. Seems like a never-ending chase to keep up with what everyone else is up in arms over while never stepping back and realizing the emptiness in it all.
But again, that's a choice that everyone gets to make. Unfortunately, we live in times where so many are willing to let others make that choice for them. Popularity and acceptance are in many ways all that matter around here anymore. As long as you fit in and yell loud enough then you're golden. You're in. You're special. And that's all that some want. To be accepted. To feel important. To enjoy the rush of power that arrogantly boasting about your opinions gives you.
If that's all you want in life, then have at it. But when it gets old, and it will, know that there is another path. There is another way to live. A way of life without all the fighting and arguing. A life that doesn't rely on the praise of others. A life that isn't built on the shaky foundation of whatever embroils society next. A life that has enough joy, peace, satisfaction, and worth that it doesn't need to look for them in the approval of the herd.
The truth is that if we never stop yelling then we'll never be able to hear anything. If we don't stop fighting with one another then we'll never find peace. If we don't pull away from following the world then we're going to end up where it's going. And in case you haven't read the Bible, it's not headed to a great destination. It's headed for destruction. The unrest and unwillingness to humbly love others is hurtling this place toward a miserable end.
Consider yourself warned.
Friends, there's more to life than arguing. More than our selfish need to feel special. More than these golden opinions that everyone seems to be worshipping anymore. We can't afford to lose ourselves in some fight that doesn't matter. We can't let worldly arguments become our focus in life. We can't settle for what everyone else is doing because far too much of it has no meaning or purpose.
We each have a chance to live for something bigger than ourselves. In a world where opinions are king, it can be hard to imagine that there's something bigger. But there is. Don't fall for the ways of this place. Aim higher. Try harder. Want more because in the end all this worldly stuff isn't going to accomplish anything other than misery and division. Why not be a part of something better than that?
Opinions may be the drug of the masses today, but in the not-too-distant future, they’re going to prove to be stumbling blocks that only keep folks chained to this world, separated from true freedom and eternal peace.
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