Decisions that change those around us:
In part 1, I talked about decisions that change us but in this blog, we will talk about those decisions that we make that change others around us. What many people don’t realize is that their decisions affect people closest to them. When we make bad decisions it pours over into our families.
I will use some of the same examples as I did in part 1. If you robbed someone in order to stay afloat then your family suffers because it is going to cost you money to fight the charge. Then after you are found guilty and you have to spend 5 years in prison or whatever the amount of time, you are destroying your kids’ future.
You don’t have a right to make bad choices when you have a family. Yes we all will make smaller bad choices but we don’t have the right to cross certain lines if we have a family. I am not saying here that you have free reign if you don’t have a family but what I am saying is that if you have a family, your priorities have to change. They are to come first.
So you think you have fallen in love with another woman and you have kids? Come on now don’t be stupid. This one decision will change who your kids are. Can they grow up to be really good kids? Of course but you don’t want to go down a road that puts your kids at a disadvantage of making good in their lives.
I hear many parents say my leaving won’t hurt my kids because I want this. But then many years later they see the effect of those decisions. This is an easy one to solve, just don’t step out on your marriage. If you keep your pants zipped up or your legs closed you never have to worry about your kids seeing all of this happen.
I am not saying life is easy but it’s time America stands up for the people around us. It’s time we say our kids are the most important and I am not talking about with money. Most parents think they can just throw money at their kids and they will be just fine. That is so far from the truth. Throwing money at your kids doesn’t solve your problems, in fact it makes your problems worse because your kids need time with their parents not the money you give them.
You might be drinking and you are driving with a friend in the car. What happens when you wreck? What happens when you alter your friend’s life or kill them? Let’s say you just altered their life. Don’t you think this will change who they are? Many people whose lives are altered by a drunk driver usually become bitter.
I have seen some of the best people you could know change once a life-altering situation happens because of some stupid decision that another person makes. The whole process changes their heart. Some of them let their heart harden and you are the cause. You have created a hatred in them that now they have to deal with for the rest of their lives. You have created in some a situation so unbearable that they just don’t want to live anymore.
You don’t have a right to alter someone’s life like that. You don’t have a right to take away everything they have worked for just because of your stupid choice. I don’t know how much clearer I can be on this issue. You just don’t need to go there.
Your decisions affect others no matter what they are. You have to look at what your decisions can do to others before you make any decision. Granted, you can make small decisions and it may have just a small affect on those around you.
So what are you going to do? Are you still going to make those decisions without ever thinking about the people around you or are you going to make quality decisions and lean on God before you make decisions?
The key is to stay in the Word daily as I said in the last post. Staying close to God can help you have the wisdom to make the right choices. We usually make wrong choices when something is wrong with our hearts. There is something in us that we are missing but the problem is that only God can heal that. Many people look to other things to heal their heart instead of the only source that can.
God is the only one who can heal your heart from your pain. All the external things you do only cover up the pain they don’t heal the pain. God is the healer.
Our next blog post which is part 3 of this will be about the ripple effect of your decisions.
Ask God to come back into your life. Ask him to heal your heart so that you can make quality decisions. Ask him to give you the courage to change when you need to change and stay the course when you need to. Ask him to help you make amends to others who your past decisions have affected. Ask him to give you the strength to stay the course he has planned for you. Ask him to give you the wisdom to know what is right to do in different situations.
Be Inspired or Be Left Behind!
Chris Benton