MAKING GODLY CHOICES

Making Godly Choices

Life is full of choices. God has given free will to all of us. In today’s globalized context, our freedom of choice has increased greatly. It is our responsibility to use our free will in a responsible way. Further, our choices shape our lives. To some degree, we are a product of our past choices. We have to make choices every day. However, we often become confused, go through dilemmas, and sometimes end up making wrong choices. Our everyday choices greatly affect our spiritual life. Here are a few principles that enable us to make godly choices in our practical day-to-day life.

Capturing our thoughts in obedience to God (2 Cor 10:5-6)

We rationalize several ungodly choices through arguments and deliberations in our thinking process. We can overcome such rationalizations through the power of God and discerning our thoughts on the basis of the Word of God.

Overcoming the battle within (Rom 7:14-25)

When choices come before us, there is always a battle within us to make the right choices. Often, the inner force plays a major role in making choices. Emotions are important here. Temptations often take over emotions and lead us into sinful choices. Thus, it is important to overcome the battle within us through the experience of life in Christ and the Holy Spirit.

Keeping God’s standards (2 Cor 1:18-34)

God’s standards and expectations are different from those of humans. The socio-cultural situations in our life context give numerous standards of the world to us. Often, the world considers the crucified Christ as foolish. But God uses foolish and weak things in the world. Christians are not expected to conform to the patterns of the world (Rom 12:3). A continually renewed mind by the Word of God and the Spirit of God is essential to understand God’s standards and make godly choices that keep God’s standards in our lives rather than the standards of the world.

The principle of eternity

We are called for eternity. Heaven is our homeland. Eternity is our ultimate destiny. We have to live in the light of eternity. Our choices should be stepping stones to attain eternity (Lk 12:18-21; Heb 11:9-16).

Fulfilling the purposes of God in your life

Rick Warren identifies the following five basic purposes of our life in his book The Purpose Driven Life:
a) You are planned for God’s pleasure (relationship with God and worship)
b) You are formed for God’s family (church)
c) You are created to become like Christ (character)
d) You are shaped for serving God
e) You are made for a mission
Our choices should serve the purposes of God in our lives.

Obedience to the Word of God (Dt 30:19–20; Josh 24:15; Ps 119:105)

Our choices should not be against the commandments of God, but they should bring obedience to the Word of God in our lives. Obedience releases God’s blessings in our lives.

Commentary on 1 Corinthians 13:1-13

Photo credit: Shaira Dela Peña Commentary on 1 Corinthians 13:1-13 Literary context, features, and issues 1 Corinthians 13:1-13 (a) There is a debate among the scholars whether chapter 13 is prose or hymn. [1] (b) There are literary parallels for chapter 13 in Greek and Hellenistic Jewish literature. [2] (c) It is often suggested that chapter 13 interrupted the flow of Pauline discussion on the spiritual gifts [3] and this chapter used stylistic forms. [4] Consequently, scholars think that chapter 13 is out of place or it is a non-Pauline interpolation and literary critics even questioned the authorship of this chapter. [5] It is also suggested that Chapter 13 is a digression. [6] It has been recognized as an epideictic showpiece that is used to exhort Corinthians to keep love as their guiding principles of life in the community. [7] Commentary of 1 Corinthians 13:1-13 The need to have love (1 Corinthians 13:1-3) Agape is used 18 times in LXX a...

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The Literature of Judaism in the Hellenistic Period (New Testament Background, part-4)

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