DAY 1: When Opinions Shape Us More Than God Does

Peter’s story begins with exhaustion and disappointment. He had the skill, the experience, and knowledge of the lake, yet he caught nothing. When your livelihood depends on your catch, an empty boat feels deeply personal. People saw him washing empty nets, and Peter felt their unspoken judgment. He had even broken Sabbath norms because bills and pressure demanded action. This wasn’t just a bad night—it was an identity-shaking moment.

Watching Peter in that place made something click for me. Many people live with this same quiet struggle—caught between what others think of them and what they fear is true about themselves. That tension is what led me to create the WHY Column.

The WHY Column is a four-row framework to help identify the voices shaping your identity:

1. How people see me
2. How I see myself
3. How I think God sees me
4. How God actually sees me

These rows expose the invisible battle around identity—how opinions can wound us, shrink us, or pull us off the path God intended.

Peter was already living inside the first two rows:

Row 1: How people see me — a fisherman, couldn’t settle debts.
Row 2: How I see myself — a struggling fisherman whose experience amounts to nothing, a prisoner in the making.

But Jesus stepped into Peter’s lowest moment—not to judge him but to lift him. He didn’t ask for results. He asked for his boat. The very thing Peter felt ashamed of became the place Jesus used to speak life. Jesus steps in when we have reached the end of ourselves.

Reflection Question: Which of the first two WHY Column rows is influencing you most right now?

Prayer: Lord, free me from opinions that have shaped me wrongly. Help me hear Your voice above every other. Amen.

Declaration: I am not defined by people’s opinions—I am defined by God’s truth.