The Power of Choice

God has given every person the ability to choose. To make choices about what they believe, speak, and do with their lives. We all make choices in life, both good and bad, sometimes with great intentions and sometimes without much thought. Life is choice driven, and your choices become the decisions that profoundly impact your life and the lives of those around you. Whom will you choose today?

God calls us as believers to be salt and light. To be a beacon to those around us, pointing to the one in which we hope. To the person, we put our trust and faith in, Jesus Christ. Though we are reconciled with God through Christ, we still have the power of choice. He does not want us to be unfeeling, unthinking automatons doing what we were programmed to do, for there can be no love without choice. You can’t have real love if you don’t have the power to choose. He (God) gave us the power of choice so we can love Him freely and demonstrate our love for Him through our words and actions.

“If you love Me, keep My commandments.” – John 14:15 (NKJV)

The word “keep” refers to doing something consistently. If you love God, you will live and act like it. You won’t be perfect at it because we aren’t perfect but keep raising your commitment to Him. We are in a relationship, and we build that relationship through our choices. We must choose to be consistent in that relationship and the decisions that we make. Choosing to obey God consistently is a demonstration of our love for Him.

Sometimes it can be difficult, and sometimes we think it would be so much easier if God would take the decision out of our hands and make us do what we know we should, but He will not. He will never do anything against your will, with the good things as well as with the bad. Your expectations are what will be met, not necessarily God’s desires. He has already chosen you, and He is waiting for you and me to decide concerning Him—to choose.

“See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil,” – Deuteronomy 30:15 (NKJV)

When God says, “I’ve set before you….” He is giving you a choice. He will not force you into anything against your will or without proper understanding and knowledge. God already knows what He’s getting into and wants you to know.

God sets before you life(good) and death(evil). It is a choice. God is all in, but you must determine whether to do good with God or evil against God. Life and good things are the results of your choosing to do good. Death and curses are the consequences of choosing evil.

“I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live;” – Deuteronomy 30:19 (NKJV)

It isn’t just about you; you can’t do what you want without consequence. There are expectations, boundaries, and conditions, but if you remain faithful, you, and your descendants, will be blessed. The choice is yours to make.

What is a choice? A Choice is an act of selecting or making a decision when faced with two or more possibilities—for example, the choice between good and evil.

There are three types of choices that we can make: impulsive choices, emotional choices, and informed choices. Impulsive choices are made without much consideration or forethought. Emotional choices are decisions made based on feelings rather than facts or logic. Finally, informed choices are decisions made after considering all related information and consequences.

In Genesis 3, God set before Adam and Eve a choice. He informed them of His expectations and boundaries. God gave Adam the commandment not to eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil (Genesis 2:17), and Adam gave it to Eve. God did not place the tree in the garden as a cruel temptation for Adam and Eve but as an opportunity to choose God—the choice to decide on obedience, denial of self, and love for God over self-will.

Eve was deceived and chose to listen to the serpent and disbelieve God. Satan appealed to her pride and convinced her she would be like God, which was why God did not want them to eat off the tree. She made an emotional choice based on greed and pride without carefully considering the consequences, while Adam made an informed decision. He was not deceived and chose to disobey God.

“And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression.” – 1 Timothy 2:14(NKJV)

What actions have you committed knowing that it was wrong? We all have done it at some point in life. We make informed choices after considering consequences and all available information. There are consequences for your choices. Your decisions can affect generations just as Adam’s decisions affect all of humanity.

Satan can only defeat you if he can get you caught up in your feelings and convince you to make a choice based on your feelings or from his misstated, misinterpreted, and wrong information. Don’t help the enemy destroy you. When you help the devil, you lock God out. He will not do anything to violate your will. If you are in places you shouldn’t be, doing things you shouldn’t be, and choosing to side with the devil, God will not go against your will.

When you make a choice, it becomes your decision. It will have either rewards or consequences, and good intentions do not exclude you from the penalties of making wrong choices. As a Christian, you make an informed choice if you choose to do what you know is wrong. You cannot be shocked by the consequences.

You must learn to make and keep making the right choice. Making the right decisions and choices come from being rooted in the word of God. God has already said what he wanted and is looking for you to echo what he says about you. Take God at His word. What others think should not and is not what will make or break you. Your choice and the choices in life will affect your destiny. Don’t allow other people’s choices to influence you.

God knows your challenges and has already put what you need in and around you, but you must choose. Don’t let the opposition and obstacles in front of you keep you from the opportunities God has put in place. Choose to keep your focus on, obey, and surrender to God and let Him direct your path (Proverbs 3:5-6). Deny your self-driven will and submit yourself to God’s will in love. Keep your mind and heart on God no matter what you feel and no matter what you face.

God doesn’t want you to get in fear but in a position of faith and trust Him. Your Faith will be what keeps you in challenging times. Decide to focus on God and affirm what He is saying and doing for you, not what is happening around you. Live out your faith and trust by obeying His word, for you will be blessed when you do.

“If they obey and serve Him, they shall spend their days in prosperity and their years in pleasantness and joy.” – Job 36:11

 

Writing this article has helped me reflect on just how far I have come in my relationship with myself and with God. I pray that it also helped to encourage you. Watch for my next article, where I go over “Living Out Your Faith.”

The information expressed above is excerpted from the sermon “The Power of Choice: How Our Decisions Shape Our Lives” by Dr. Lee A. Simpson. You can listen to the complete sermon on our YouTube channel.