Just Because You Can

by

Pastor B.J. Knefley

Just because you can, it doesn’t mean you should. If the thought comes into your mind, it doesn’t mean it should come out of your mouth.

Several years ago I coined the phrase, “You’re the most dangerous to the Kingdom of God when you’re right.” It came about during a period in my life when I thought I knew everything there was to know about God, the Scriptures, theology, and doctrine. Although I thought I was right, I was far from it. During those days I was trying to persuade everyone to my way of thinking. If they didn’t get on board, in my lofty opinion, they were wrong, and I would proceed to let them know that. Instead of serving God I was serving myself. I was a huge obstacle to His plan and purpose. In my ignorance in the quest of being right, I was wrong, and I hurt many people. Sadly, many can follow a path that seems right, but it ends in destruction.

Social media plays a big part in society. News programs run 24/7. If a person thinks it, they seem to think they have a need to say it. There was a time then people had filters. Those filters were part of our moral upbringing, social restraints, and etiquette. One doesn’t need to have evidence that supports an opinion, they just must believe it’s true. An opinion, according to the dictionary is; “a view or judgment formed about something, not necessarily based on fact or knowledge:” Please understand, I’m not against opinions but when we ride our opinion horse to the extreme we destroy friendships, family relationships and probably cause most of our mental health issues like anxiety and depression. The stress of carrying this burden can be overwhelming.

I like to use different slogans to help address situations. One is to simply ask, “In the scope of eternity, what does this really matter.” You may find that the opinion you’re holding on to in the scope of eternity means nothing. Think about it.