The Sequence to Success: Three O’s of LifeSample

Jesus Cared About Opinions—and So Must We

A few people insist that they don’t care about anyone’s opinion of them. That’s absurd. God has made us relational creatures. We live and die by the opinions of those around us. The question is: whose opinion matters the most?

On three different occasions, Jesus—and those around Him—heard the Father’s opinion of His beloved Son. At His baptism, the Father said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17). At the transfiguration, as Peter, James, and John saw Jesus’s appearance change before their eyes, they heard the Father say, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!” (Matthew 17:5). And as Jesus arrived in Jerusalem for the Passover, when He would become the slain Lamb of God, some Greeks wanted to meet Him. Jesus told them that the hour had come for the Father to glorify His name. Then a voice that sounded like thunder came from heaven, saying, “I have glorified it, and will glorify it again” (John 12:28). The Father’s opinion was paramount to Jesus.

Even Jesus, whose sense of security with the Father was complete and strong, was concerned about what people thought of Him. Ultimately, it was the opinions of the religious rulers that condemned Him and sent Him to the cross.

For Jesus, everything depended on people coming to the right conclusions about Him. If they formed inaccurate opinions, their futures were in peril; if they were right, they could experience the forgiveness, acceptance, and power He offers to those who believe. One way to read the Gospels is to perceive people’s opinions of Jesus in every encounter. We find that some despised Him, some feared Him, and some adored Him, but nobody walked away from Jesus with a lukewarm opinion, saying, “Yeah, He’s okay, but I wouldn’t make a big deal about Him.”

If Jesus cared about people’s opinions of Him, it’s important for us to understand the power of others’ opinions as well.

The good opinion of people we respect inspires us to do our very best. Because they believe in us, we reach higher and attempt to do more—not to win approval, but because we already have it and we want to be worthy of it.