Lesson 4: Guiding Principles

GUIDING PRINCIPLES FOR CHOICES

“I call heaven and earth as witnesses today . . . I have sent before you life and death . . . therefore choose life” (Deut. 30:19).

1. The first step to making a good choice is to decide to make a good choice.

a. You want God’s best.

b. You don’t want to make a bad choice.

2. Before making a choice, realize God has a plan for your life, and determine to find it.

3. Realize the only thing in life you control is your choices.

a. You choose how you will respond to good or bad things.

b. To not make a good choice is to perpetuate bad choices.

4. Don’t make a bad choice with negative reactions to bad things that happen to you. Anger, fear, retaliation, bitterness, withdraw, give up.

5. Make choices in keeping with your core values.

a. Values are the meaning of life, they represent who we are.

b. Habitually doing the right thing in the right way for the glory of God.

6. Never put God to a test, i.e., wait for a fleece before choosing.

a. May border on luck, so the option is bad luck.

b. However, the test may reveal facts needed for a decision.

7. Don’t ask God for a miracle to help with your choice.

8. Effective choices will motivate you to serve and worship God.

9. The bigger the choice, the more ramifications and hence, the harder to make.

10. Split-secular choices are usually made on past experiences, habits and core values. Research shows they are many times better than past postponed choices.

11. Because of tunnel vision we choose the immediate, and we forget the long-range consequences.

12. Always make choices based on life’s goals and core values. Past good choices will help make future good choices.

13. Keep your decision focused on the inward (core-value) rather than outward irrelevant things.

14. Take ownership for your choices.

a. Makes even failures feel like a success.

b. You will know you did your best.

c. You will probably know what correct choice to make next time.

d. You will grow.

15. Begin with what is right, rather than if it’s acceptable to others, or ease, or what works.

16. Realize what happens if you don’t make a choice.

When you have a choice between right and wrong and do nothing, you have made a poor choice.

17. When you know your core-values, most of your hard choices are already made.

18. God usually gives you two choices that appear equal to make us grow.

19. God doesn’t give external incentives to help us choose.

20. There will usually be comfort and opposition on both sides of choices we must make.

a. Because we live in a sinful world.

b. Because nothing is perfect in this life.

21. As you grow older (spiritually and physically) your choices change.

a. They don’t get easier, because our life is inter-related.

b. They get easier, because we understand our core-values.

22. Your family may change your choice because:

a. Their spirituality is different from yours.

b. They look at life differently.

c. Your choices involve them, and not just yourself.

23. When you are in rebellion to God:

a. You don’t want to choose God’s will and standards.

b. You will easily make wrong choices.

24. When you are yielded to do God’s will:

a. The thing you want to do will probably be God’s will.

b. You will easily make good choices.

25. If you repeatedly make bad choices, get help.

26. Most make decisions like their hero so be careful who you emulate.

27. Make a list of pros and cons, but realize the weakness of such a list.

a. Answers have different weights.

b. Leave out issues.

c. Leave out core values.

If you have never really accepted Jesus as your personal Savior, would you do it right now? Do not delay or put it off. If you would like to receive Christ by faith, pray this simple prayer in your heart:

Dear Lord,

I acknowledge that I am a sinner. I believe Jesus died for my sins on the cross, and rose again the third day. I repent of my sins. By faith I receive the Lord Jesus as my Savior. You promised to save me, and I believe You, because You are God and cannot lie. I believe right now that the Lord Jesus is my personal Savior, and that all my sins are forgiven through His precious blood. I thank You, dear Lord, for saving me. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

If you prayed that prayer, God heard you and saved you. I personally want to welcome you to the family of God and rejoice with you.

For more information on the TRBC Pastor’s Bible Class, log on to the Internet for TRBC Home page at www.trbc.org/pbc.