Choices Have Consequences

What choices do you make as a man? Do you know the effects of those choices?

We have heard it said many times that our choices matter. We know this is true because all of life is shaped by the choices we make. We make our choices and our choices turn around and make us

I realize that at the age of 62, I am nothing more than the sum total of all the choices I have made over all the years of my life. I am what I am, where I am, doing what I do, as a result of thousands of choices made over a long period of time. Some were positive, others were negative.

The choices we make as men every day, affect us and those around us particularly our immediate family. I don’t know if most of us even stop and think about that, but the reality is very true. Everyone’s actions affect everyone else. If that were not true, then we wouldn’t live in such a sinful and wicked world.

We have choices about everything in life, little ones and big ones alike. In this country there has been a lot of emphasis on freedom of choice; choose whom we date, marry or spend out life with. We choose where we live and what kind of home we live in. We choose to work, go to school or even just live off of others. We also make choices about our attitudes and opinions of others. The other day there was a whole debate on ‘My Dress My Choice’. There are so many choices we don’t even stop to think about, we just go through with our day-to-day routines, continuing to make most of those same choices. We can end up making poor choices that result in repeated patterns of poor behavior. Now here we are making these extremely harmful choices for our lives that affect others and we now have to work harder than ever at making right choices to become healthy again.

I believe that making well-educated and informed choices is the best way to go about it doing this. Don’t let someone else tell you what to do, make sure that you can stand on your own two feet when making a choice. Most people are going to try to get you to believe that what they think is right. While some of what it is truth, some of it is really not true and not what you need for your life. People will try to tell you that what you believe is wrong in many different ways. We all have our own beliefs about what’s right and wrong. We have our core beliefs and those are generally what guide us. Right or wrong, good or bad, the choices I make for my life aren’t the same as others would make. However based on what I have for my life, I need to make sure that choices I make don’t affect my life and family in a negative manner.

Men need to be aware of and take a stand on right choices. Men should reject apathy and passivity and stand up against injustice. Men stand up for what is right, protect those who need protecting and don’t be afraid to defend what you believe even if it means laying your life down for it. Few men are willing to lay their life down for their beliefs, some have and some still choose to make that right choice. These are men I respect and admire.

The choices we make have more impact than we realize!

The impact of the choices we make is emphasized in Deuteronomy 30:19; “I lay before you life and death; blessing and cursing. Choose life so that you and your descendants may live”.

We make choices based upon what we are processing through our five senses, which are the events and circumstances of life. We then choose our reactions to these events and circumstances of life. These choices become part of our actual biology, and we live into this biology much in the same way. Proverbs 23:7 notes: “as a man thinks in his heart, so is he”.

It’s our choices that make something out of nothing. It’s our choices that make the powerless lie into a physical reality. This is the incredible power God has given us: to be able to think, choose and create reality. No wonder he tells us to “choose life”!

Choice of friends

One of the major choices we make is that of friendship. Our friends influence us in many ways. Most men have been influenced negatively by their friends. Few have been influenced positively.

What do your friends reveal about your character and your interests? So what do your friends reveal about you?

Proverbs 13:20

He who walks with wise men will be wise, But the companion of fools will be destroyed.(NKJV)

Ecclesiastes 4:9-12

Two are better than one, Because they have a good reward for their labor. For if they fall, one will lift up his companion. But woe to him who is alone when he falls, For he has no one to help him up. Again, if two lie down together, they will keep warm; But how can one be warm alone? Though one may be overpowered by another, two can withstand him. And a threefold cord is not quickly broken.(NKJV) These verses show that God wants us to have friends.

Proverbs 27:17

As iron sharpens iron, So a man sharpens the countenance of his friend. (NKJV)

Finally

Lastly, I also believe in choosing to follow the laws of the land. Even though I may not agree with everything, I still believe out of respect you make good choices.

Men’s choices are more about the greater picture and less about themselves. They are able to step back, see the whole picture and realize ‘my choices impact everyone around me. I make good choices because I care about others.’

Clearly, the choices you make today not only affect you, spirit soul and body, but also those around you and your descendants! If your choices are good this is good, but if the choices were bad…you have set up a string of negative events with a myriad of consequences!

Choices are so important and so crucial. We make our choices and our choices turn around and make us. Never is this more important than when hard times come and life seems to move against us. When trouble comes, you find out very quickly what you really believe.