This is Pastor Tim’s article published in the Evening Leader on Tuesday, Oct 11, 2022
Well, we have come to another one of those moments where we need to discuss the meaning of a word because there appears to be some confusion over what this word means. The word I need to clear up for everyone is: affirm. This has been thrown around in so many incorrect circumstances that I think we have forgotten what it means. So allow me to set the record straight.
Dictionary.com defines the word affirm as, “to state or assert positively; maintain as true.” What it means to affirm something is that you are willing to testify to its truth. If you affirm that this is the month of October, it means you are validating that it is true, that this is the month of October. You are adding your witness and testimony to something that it is actual reality.
There are many things we are asked to affirm on any given day. We are asked to affirm that when the stop light is red, we stop, and when it is green, we go. If you don’t affirm that, then it leads to disaster. We also affirm that we drive on the right side of the road. If you drive on the left side, the people coming the other direction are not going to like it. Our Australian friends do not affirm that. In Australia, they drive on the left side of the road.
We can affirm many objective things. The sun rises in the east, a week has 7 days, and leap year happens every 4th year. These are objective things. If you do not affirm them, it is going to hinder you in life. If you decide that your week only has 4 days, it might be great to get you to the weekend faster, but no one else is running on that schedule. It is to your advantage to affirm objectively true things.
However, one of the things that makes life the most interesting is that we can also affirm subjective things. These are what you think are true based on your feelings and experiences. Examples of this are: Dorito chips are disgusting, the St Marys Roughriders are the only football team worth rooting for, and the Volkswagen Beetle is the greatest car ever manufactured. These are subjectively true things based on what we are feeling. This is where we get our disagreements on politics, practices, and procedures. I love the Volkswagen Beetle because I have driven one for 7 years. I love that little car. I am sure that no one else reading this article would agree that the Beetle is the greatest car ever manufactured. So the greatness of the Beetle is subjectively true based on my opinion.
We make decisions on things that we subjectively affirm all the time. I fell in love with my Beetle the first time I saw him on the car lot. I made a decision on what car I wanted at that moment based on what I subjectively felt. Most likely, you picked out the car you drive the exact same way, which is great. You affirm your choice every time you drive your car.
However, what happens if I make a decision on something by affirming something that is false? What if I make a decision by affirming something based on a feeling that may change? I love my car, but if one day I decide I want or need a different car, I can go get one based on what I am subjectively feeling at that time. Again, we do this all the time. But what if I affirm something that is only subjectively true that I can never take back? Things that are only subjectively true are subject to change. Throughout my life, I have affirmed many things that were subjectively true that I no longer affirm. It frightens me what kind of decisions I could have made while affirming subjective feelings that I could not take back when I changed my mind as I grew up.
We live in a world today that has lost the distinction between subjective and objective. Everything is based on what we are feeling in the moment. I want to encourage all of you, particularly those of you who are young, to be very careful what kind of permanent affirmation you give based on something that is only subjectively true. If you affirm something that you can never undo, and you change your mind about that affirmation, the results of the choice cannot be taken back. You are stuck with the results forever, even if you no longer affirm the feelings that led to the choice.
The rest of your life is a long time. Make sure that the life altering affirmations you make will be choices you can live with from now on.