Making Healthy Choices

“And He said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the great and foremost commandment.” Matthew 22:37-38

The second thing we can do is have a purpose and reason for our life.

Have goals and a mission in life.

“I urge you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice—holy, acceptable to God—which is your spiritual service. Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect. For through the grace given me, I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of yourself than you ought to think—but to use sound judgment, as God has assigned to each person a measure of faith. For just as we have many parts in one body—and all the parts do not have the same function— so we, who are many, are one body in Messiah and everyone parts of one another. We have gifts that differ according to the grace that was given to us—if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; or the one who teaches, in his teaching; or the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who gives, in generosity; the one who leads, with diligence; the one who shows mercy, with cheerfulness. Let love be without hypocrisy—detesting what is evil, holding fast to the good. Be tenderly devoted to one another in brotherly love; outdo one another in giving honor. Do not be lagging in zeal; be fervent in spirit. Keep serving the Lord, rejoicing in hope, enduring in distress, persisting in prayer, contributing to the needs of the kedoshim, extending hospitality. Bless those who persecute you—bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another; do not be proud, but associate with the lowly. Do not be wise in your own eyes. Repay no one evil for evil; give thought to what is good in the eyes of all people. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live in shalom with all people. Never take your own revenge, loved ones, but give room for God’s wrath—for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine; I will repay,” says Adonai. Rather, “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him a drink. For by doing so you will heap coals of fire upon his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” Romans 12

We need to change our attitude from being selfish to being Christ like

God calls us to make wise choices

Yeshua plainly tells us, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your mind.” Then He tells us, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” We need to understand through wise council and prayer, what we can specifically do to please God and model His love to others around us. What does this look like in my daily life? When something comes up, I need to seek to know what is best by having a good positive attitude, being in prayer and asking, “does this please God?” What pleases God? The answer is simple; it is our attitude, character and Fruit of the Spirit working in and through us!

When you need to think about who to be friends with or what college to go to, make those decisions by reading his Word, asking wise older people, praying and thinking it through. Do not fret over past failures or fear the future!

• Pray!!! Luke 11:9

• Seek God’s Will: James 4:13-15

• Ask God for wisdom: Proverbs: 2:1-9; James 1: 5-8

• Be forgiving and accepting of others. 1 Timothy 1:12-16

• Be willing to learn from your mistakes: Proverbs 3:13-14

• Ask for advice from those with wisdom: Proverbs 11:14; 12:15

• Realize that God loves you and keeps His promises: 1 John 4:4-21

• Commit your self and choices to the Lord: Psalm 15; 37:5-6, 23-26

• Do not allow your pride to steer you: Psalms 10:4; Proverbs 16:18

How then shall we carry ourselves? First, we are to pray and not be anxious. Second, we are to have peace as Colossians 3:15 states, “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful.” Third, we need to press toward the goal and not be afraid to fail. When we do this, two things will happen; we will either succeed or we will discover something was not God’s will and have to reboot. Either way, God will use it to help us grow.

Mistakes are not sin unless we are being disobedient to God.

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” Luke 11:9

To ask means simply to ask God in prayer. To seek means to pursue understanding of our options, being honest with our abilities and ourselves. To knock means to get ourselves moving; do not sit around and wait for a ship to come in because it may have already sunk. Remember the analogy of the car, God cannot steer us and direct us unless we have put ourselves into gear with forward motion.

“for this reason, brethren, in all our distress and affliction we were comforted about you through your faith” 1 Thessalonians 3:7

What is the up side of making good decisions, besides a better and happier life?

• They help us be a better person

• They help us earn the trust of others

• They help us have a good character and reputation

• They help us have happier and healthy relationships

• They help provide us with a successful and fulfilling future

We are not rats in a maze, but Heirs to the kingdom of God! Go in comfort, to love and serve the Lord our God. Do this with obedience, passion, conviction, love, discipline and humility!