Being open minded…
Feb 15th, 2012 by ljkim
…has a lot to do with emotional and spiritual maturity. I remember as a freshman in college, whenever a teacher or a peer would entertain an idea that sounded contrary to what I already thought – I got nervous. ”What kind of crazy idea are they teaching?” But the problem with this is: if you immediately close your mind to anything that isn’t already a part of your thinking, then you make it almost impossible to grow and learn! The more profound the truth, the greater your dismal of it would be. So the Bible has a better idea: be open minded (ala 1 Thess 5.21), allow the Spirit to speak through people and teach you “BUT, test *everything* and hold fast to what is good.” Everyone thinks they’re right almost all the time – but sometimes we’re wrong – so we need to be open minded otherwise we won’t grow. So here’s a quick open-mindedness self-test after the jump.
1. Do you know the other point of view? You know what you think on a topic, but can you see the other side’s point of view on issues you are adamant about?
2. How do you react when people openly express an opinion that’s contrary to yours? Do you dismiss it outright, or do you seek to understand it?
3. Do you have friends (and can you accept people) who think differently about key personal decisions in your life?
4. Do you often find yourself imputing evil motives on people who disagree with you? ”O he just hates me that’s all…”
5. Do you like learning new things, or do you like to hear stuff that affirms what you already know and agree with?
Truly open minded people are the most interesting people in the world! They’re also the most interested people – because unlike immature people, they find God’s truth coming from all sorts of place: teaching, challenging, encouraging…
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