Every Story Has Three Sides

Anybody who has ever counselled, parented, or managed people understands all too well that there is more than one side to any story. While the common saying is, "there are TWO sides to every story," the more accurate truth is that THREE sides exist for every story:

(1) one party's perspective;
(2) the other party's perspective;
(3) and the truth, or God's perspective.

Perhaps this truth is communicated nowhere more clearly than in 1 Kings 3:16-28. Two women appeared before newly crowned king Solomon, each claiming to have had her baby stolen by the other. No doubt, both ladies presented themselves as responsible and respectable women who had newly become loving mothers. At the same time, each lady presented the other lady as a horrible mother and the villain of all villains. Had Solomon made a ruling based solely upon the perspective of either of these ladies, it would have been uninformed, at best, and quite possibly devastatingly erroneous.

In a world where we are constantly bombarded by information and opinions, we must be cautious in the taking of sides. Solomon had sought and found God's wisdom and therefore was able to discern the third side of the story—the truth. Before weighing in with our opinions, we too ought to appeal to God's wisdom and understand that any one person's perspective is likely tainted by biases and inaccuracies whether purposeful or simply the shortfalls offered by a matter of perspective.