Click here to read the Old Paths Journal.
Detrimental Decision Making
1 Samuel 25:13
"And David said unto his men, Gird ye on every man his sword. And they girded on every man his sword; and David also girded on his sword: and there went up after David about four hundred men; and two hundred abode by the stuff."
In the verse above, David nearly made a decision that would have scarred him for the rest of his life. David gathered his men to go to war against Nabal because of how he was treated. If it wasn't for the wife of Nabal, David would have regretted this horrible act. The whole reason why David almost made a detrimental decision was because he didn't allow principle to make his decision.
It is so easy to forsake principles when making decisions. Every day you are faced with different situations and people who can bait you into making unprincipled decisions that can be detrimental to your future success and walk with God. There are several things that can lead to detrimental decisions that you must avoid.
First, never let situations decide your actions. Situations change, and anything that changes is not a stable measuring stick by which to make decisions. If a situation is bad, you can make a spur of the moment decision that could make the situation worse. You should never allow the situation to determine your actions. For instance, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego did not allow their situation to make their decision. Their situation would have told them to bow down to the idol, but they chose to follow principle in making their decision which kept them right with God. Just because a decision may make your situation better at the moment doesn't make it right. You must avoid allowing a situation to determine what you will do.
Second, don't let emotions decide your actions. Emotions will lead you into trouble. Any time you make a decision you must take your emotions out of the equation. In the story above, David allowed his emotions to get involved in his decisions which would have been detrimental to the rest of his life. The fact that you feel you have been mistreated should not determine what your actions are going to be. Take your emotions out when deciding what to do.
Third, don't let others decide your actions. What others do to you should not determine what you are going to do to them. You should do right whether or not others do right. Often you must make a decision that goes against what others have done to you. Others can bait you into a decision that you will regret for the rest of your life.
Last, always let principles decide your actions. Principles don't make decisions based on the situation, your emotions or what others have done to you. Principles make decisions based upon the Scriptures. You will always be safe when you let your Scriptural principles make decisions for you.
When principles make decisions for you then you only have to make a decision one time. When you allow situations, emotions and how others treat you to influence what you will do, then you must make a decision every time. You have a better chance of making detrimental decisions when you make more decisions. The fewer decisions you have to make the better chance you have of making right decisions. Let principles drive your decision making and you can avoid making detrimental decisions.