Tag Archives: wrong choices

Greg Laurie

Greg Laurie – The Three Cs of Life

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It was by faith that Moses, when he grew up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. He chose to share the oppression of God’s people instead of enjoying the fleeting pleasures of sin.

—Hebrews 11:24–25

What you decide to eat for lunch and what you decide to wear don’t have long-lasting repercussions in life. But there are other decisions that are very important, like whom you will marry and what career path you take. And the most important choice of all is whether you will follow Jesus Christ.

You could call it the three Cs of life: challenges, choices, and consequences. We face challenges every day. Sometimes those challenges will come in the form of an opportunity that we can take advantage of. At other times they will come in the form of a temptation that hopefully we’ll resist. Then we have the choices we will make. And then we have the consequences of those choices. If we have made the right choices, there will be good consequences. If we have made the wrong choices, there will be bad consequences.

We need to make the right choices in life because it can affect the entire course that our lives take. Think about people in the Bible who made certain choices. Moses made a choice to help his fellow Hebrews. He chose that over the riches and power of Egypt, and his choice saved a nation. Daniel’s choice not to compromise brought great hope and encouragement to so many, which set a course that affected their lives.

But then there were wrong choices that people made. Adam’s choice cost him paradise. Esau’s choice cost him his birthright. King Saul’s choice cost him his kingdom. Judas’s choice cost him his apostleship and his very life. Pilate, Agrippa, and Felix—all Roman leaders—chose wrong and missed eternity with Christ.

The choices of life are binding in eternity. You will make choices today that will affect you forever. You make your decisions, and then your decisions make you.

 

Charles Stanley

Charles Stanley – When a Fellow Christian Stumbles

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Charles Stanley

Galatians 6:1

Believers sometimes make wrong choices that result in their stumbling on the path of faith. According to the apostle Paul, our responsibility is to help fallen brothers and sisters to get back on their feet. Here are six areas where you can assist.

1. Try and help the believer to be able to recognize his failure as sin.

2. Does he accept responsibility for his sin? It is easy to blame one’s own transgression on the influence of someone else, but each person is ultimately responsible for his own behavior choices.

3. Encourage the Christian to confess and repent. True repentance is marked by a change of mind that results in a change of behavior.

4. Restitution may need to be made. For instance, if something was stolen, it must be paid back, or, if someone’s been harmed emotionally or spiritually, forgiveness should be sought. Circumstances may warrant advice from a pastor.

5. Help him to determine what lesson God may be trying to teach. We often overlook the fact that the Lord wants to communicate with us in our hard time.

6. Counsel the believer to respond to God’s chastisement with gratitude. This is a difficult step for anyone, but through discipline, we can always learn more about our heavenly Father.

Our responsibility as brothers and sisters is not condemnation, but restoration with gentleness. We must be sensitive to fellow believers’ hurts and needs. And then, if we ourselves should ever stumble, we can expect similar treatment in the same loving spirit.

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Charles Stanley – When We Feel Disappointed

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Ephesians 3:17-19

Isn’t it wonderful to realize we cannot disappoint God? Since the Lord knows every decision we will make, He can never be surprised or let down by our wrong choices. He has no false expectations of what we can or cannot accomplish, and He loves us, no matter what.

When others face difficult, painful, or disappointing experiences, some Christians are quick to quote, “God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose” (Rom. 8:28.) But do we apply that verse in the daily details and challenges of our own life? Do we have faith that God is engineering our circumstances—no matter how uncomfortable they may be—for our ultimate benefit?

We believe Jesus is the Messiah who will come again. We believe in salvation by grace alone. We believe we will spend eternity in heaven. And we heartily say “Amen!” to all that. But then some big disappointment happens in life, and we cry out, “God, where are You? Help me!”

It’s one thing to know the fundamentals intellectually, but it’s something else to live by faith. Can we apply the principles of Scripture to our daily lives so that unexpected disappointment won’t keep us from being the person God wants us to be?

Disappointments do not mean that our Father doesn’t love us. He desires that we profit from hard circumstances, and He wants what is best for us. Remember, God is more interested in our spiritual growth than in relieving our pain. His best may not always be our choice, but because it’s His nature to love us (1 John 4:8), we can rest assured even letdowns are sovereignly permitted for our good.