Do we believe the Bible or our interpretation or others’ commentary of it?

It’s a constant challenge to separate our perspective from the truth, because our understanding is limited. We will get it wrong at times. Our motives matter. At times, we can’t understand. When we’re young, we can’t understand the same context we can as we get older. Our minds can’t sort through it all. And we don’t need to have some of the context, because not everything is appropriate for all ages. We might get frustrated later, as we realize how limited the information we gathered was, but we begin to understand it later. We claim, “If I only knew then what I know now…” But at least we know now, or do we? We can learn more deeply and understand more fully. And part of that process is unlearning.

We are too easily accepting of isolated Scripture verses and others’ opinions and explanations. We readily reject some, but if something affirms what we want to hear, we grab it as truth. How quickly do we actually turn to Scripture, explore the context, pray over time, and get our answers from God? How much more do we focus on authors, podcasts, and anyone we view as an expert? How often to we dig into Scripture? Instead, do we listen to quips that make us feel better and justifies the route we want to take?

I can answer the last question. Yes. Yes, we do. We all do at times. But we can change. We can grow. We can learn from God’s perspective to replace our own.

Let’s.