I became a Christian at 25; I’m now 70. Jesus has been faithful in the good times and the very bad ones. As I step into retirement, my prayer is that we remain faithful in all we do, in private and in public.

Lately, I keep coming back to Truth—not opinion, but Truth. There is no “my truth” and “your truth.” That phrase does two unhelpful things.

First, it elevates opinion beyond its place. Truth’s only constraint is reality. Leave reality, you leave Truth. Errors in our opinions don’t change what is; they only trap us in a false picture of the world and make us resistant to correction—even when Truth confronts us plainly.

Second, it personalizes opinion into identity. Once I call my opinion “my truth,” any disagreement feels like a rejection of me, not a critique of an idea. Civil discussion breaks down; people, not topics, get attacked. The only “safe” spaces become rooms full of like-minded people—echo chambers.

We all have personal experiences, and we do draw inferences from them. Those inferences are our opinions. But when we voice them, they enter the public square where they can—and should—be tested. If I am so committed to my own mind that nothing outside it can correct me, I will lose the ability to be corrected at all.

So I want to live—and speak—in a way that keeps the order right:

Experiences are personal; treat them with respect.
Opinions are provisional; hold them with humility.
Truth is public and constrained by reality; submit to it.

That posture protects conversation, sharpens discernment, and keeps our hearts teachable before God and people.