Well, over the past few weeks, there has been a topic on my mind which I have been wanting to blog about. A topic that is very difficult to find the proper balance on.

I want to take some time to blog about respect of other people’s opinions and views.

When I first started blogging, I was very inexperienced. I had few friends, and my posts weren’t very good.

As I started to mature in my blogging, I got more friends. And with more friends came different views on morality, religion, and even on simple things like books you read or music you listen to.

As my eyes were opened to these different views; I felt the need to share with everyone my opinion on these views, which was fine, to an extent.

But before I knew it, instead of kindly telling people what I believe is right, I started impressing upon people ‘what is right and what is wrong’. I gave no thought to the fact that maybe what I thought was wrong might potentially not be wrong to someone else.

I eventually got into some pretty deep debates with several people, and I always impressed upon them that my views were right, and that theirs were not, and that they were the ones who needed to change. I never even gave a thought to the fact that maybe I was the one who was wrong.

As I got deeper and deeper into arguments and debates, I pushed my views onto other people even more savagely, telling them that they were wrong, and what they did was sin.

But then, when I was getting to the height of my ‘opinion pushing’, something happened.

There is an old saying that my youth pastor in Michigan used a lot. The saying goes: ‘You can dish it out, but you can’t take it when it comes around’. Meaning, you can do stuff to people, yet you can’t stand it when the same thing happens to you.

Well, it did come around to me. After dishing and dishing my opinion out, and shoving it upon people, I had a girl come and start criticizing me for everything I did. I couldn’t do a single thing without her going, ‘You’re sinning.’ She got mean at times; impressing her opinion on me.

I seriously almost got to the point of crying when that happened. I wondered why God would allow that to happen to me; to have somebody always impress what they believed was righteous upon me. The person didn’t even ask if maybe what I did was okay for me, though it might not be for them.

As I pondered, God reminded me of all the people I had shoved my opinion upon. Who I had shamelessly dished my opinion on morality on without even pondering whether or not they might have different views on morality.

After this had happened, I apologized profusely to the people I had attacked. I still have one more to apologize to, but I’m going to next time I see her.

But the point that I want to make through my story is this:

It is so easy to get into the thought pattern that your view on morality, or even silly things like books, music, movies; is the righteous view, and that if someone else has even the slightest different opinion on something, you need to correct them.

Before you correct someone, it is always important to remember that you might possibly be doing something against their view of morality.

In closing, I hope that this will teach some of you younger bloggers a life-lesson that is essential for every blogger; and that this will remind some of the older bloggers a lesson too.

Make sure that before you dish out your opinion on everyone else, that you think over the fact that you wouldn’t like it if someone did that to you. Make sure that you also think that maybe what someone is doing could be morally right for them, even if it isn’t exactly in accordance to what you believe.

Respect is the key. Respect other’s opinion, views, and beliefs. Especially if you want them to respect yours.

~Nick