Do You Always Have to Be Right?
Adapted from Trusting God Day by Day
Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.
Have you ever been absolutely sure you were right about something? Your mind appeared to have a store of facts and details to prove you were right—but you ended up being wrong. What did you do? Did you admit your error, or did you keep pushing and trying to find a way to defend your position?
In the past, when my husband and I were watching a movie or television show, we often argued over which actors and actresses were portraying the characters. It seemed to me that Dave thought Henry Fonda played half the characters in movies.
“Oh, look,” he’d say as we watched a movie on television. “Henry Fonda is in this movie.” “That’s not Henry Fonda,” I’d answer back, and we’d start arguing and bickering. Both of us were so intent on being right that we would insist on staying up much later than we should, just so we could see the credits roll at the end. Then one of us could say, “I told you so!”
Why do we want so desperately to be right about things? Why is it so difficult to be wrong? Why is it so important for us to “win” in a disagreement?
For years I felt bad about who I was, and in order to feel any confidence at all, I had to be right all the time. So I would argue and go to great extremes to prove I was right. I lived in frustration as I tried to convince everyone that I knew what I was talking about.
It wasn’t until my identity became rooted and grounded in Christ that I began to experience freedom in this area. Now I know my worth and value do not come from appearing right to others. Trusting what Jesus says about me is enough.
Prayer of the Day: Lord, free me from the need to always be right. Root my identity in Christ so I can walk in humility, let go of arguments, and find confidence in what You say about me, amen.
