Our Choices Matter

Our choices matter.

Every choice we make leads us down one of two paths.  The path of purity, freedom, a meaningful life, and where we can exhale a sigh of relief as we realize the good choices we are making won't lead to regret, hiding, secrecy, or shame.  The other path is one of compromise, neglecting our responsibilities, slacking off or treating the task at hand in a halfhearted manner, or taking baby steps toward impurity and what we know is wrong.

So many of us look back over our lives and think, "If only I didn't spend time with that person" or "If only I didn't try masturbation or view porn out of curiosity!"  We all live with many regrets and sometimes the consequences are grave; such as getting a sexually transmitted disease or losing our reputation and right standing with others due to certain choices.

We all make a million choices each day, either to a greater or lesser degree.  We choose what we will eat, the sort of entertainment we will view or listen to, how much water we will drink, whether or not we will skip doses of our medication or vitamins, whether we will spend time reading God's word or justify our absence by saying, "It hasn't been that long, Lord."  We choose who we will spend time with, the places we will go, whether we will exercise or use the excuse that we are too lazy so what is one more day of not running or working out with weights?

We choose the words we will say when presented with a situation or person who angers us.  We choose if we will drink alcohol (just one beer with dinner, right?) or whether we will abstain from alcohol use if for no other reason then to stay sober because this is when we are in the most logical and normal state of mind.  It is called "Being under the influence" for a reason, friends!

We choose if we will participate in gossip or if we will pray for that person and choose to walk away when others bring them up in a negative or hurtful way.

We choose to stay up late and suffer the next morning or to practice the discipline of getting to bed at a reasonable hour so we will be at our best the following day at work or school. ...

We make so many choices a day.  I have only listed a fraction of them.

With every choice, we choose to go down the path of further godliness and what will be most beneficial to our spiritual, physical, and relationship health or the path of compromise, falling on the excuse of, "Just one more time..." and the end result being one of regret, shame, sadness, guilt, impurity, or secrecy.

A well-ordered, organized, meaningful, God honoring, admirable, pure, life of joy and freedom from our strongholds doesn't just happen because we desire it to.  It all depends on the choices we make on a regular day by day, hour by hour, situation by situation, conversation by conversation, circumstance by circumstance, moment by moment basis.

"God hath given to man a short time here upon earth, and yet upon this short time eternity depends."  Jeremy Taylor

What choices have you made recently that have enabled you to stay on track with God, your job or school, and building/maintaining the relationships in your life?