Deciding on Perspective   
 

by Terry Benton

Some of us think that we just have a perspective and can't do anything about it. The truth is that we can decide how we will look at certain things and how we will respond to it. When we were children we always wanted to be older so that we could do this or that, and then after a while of being older we wish we could go back to the days of childhood innocence. Why? It's all about perspective.

The truth is that being a child was never as ideal as we remember. We have simply selected the good things about it and forgotten the negative side. As a child we idealized the life of adulthood and didn't know the negative side. There is no ideal situation here in this temporal world. It has good and bad in it. There is enough good in it to make it worthwhile with moments of joy and excitement, and enough bad in it to make us not want to stay here forever.

We need to learn how to "count it all joy" (James 1:2-4) when dealing with the negative because it has a way of molding our character with durability and temper us with patience if we choose to see it that way. We need to choose our perspective wisely. That is part of learning to be content and learning the best ways of dealing with what life throws at you. Some people handle things better than others simply because they choose to. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and wisdom is the basis of better perspective (Prov.1:7).

   

 Other Articles by Terry Benton

Body Versus Soul
They Hated Me First
Subjective Spirit Leading
The Pharisee Shield
Review of Radical Restoration Chapter 1
These Things Became Our Examples
The Fall and the Rising