Managing Your Choices

“I have the right to do anything,” you say—but not everything is beneficial. “I have the right to do anything”—but I will not be mastered by anything.

1 Corinthians 6:12 (NIV)

Some things are not necessarily wrong; they’re just not necessary. Many of the choices you make in life are not between good and evil. The choices you make in life are between what’s good and what’s best. Everything is permissible, “but not everything is beneficial.” Most of the decisions you make are morally neutral. So when making a choice, the question is: “Will this help me, or will this hinder me in pursuing my life purpose?”

For example, you could spend your entire week watching television. That might not be morally wrong, but it’s definitely a waste of time. When you waste your time, you’re wasting your life.

Until you figure out why God put you here on earth, you really have no basis by which to make decisions. Until you know your purpose, all the other decisions have no context by which you can determine, “This helps me move toward my goal in life. This helps me become what God wants me to be—and this doesn’t.”

Discernment is a key to success in life because you don’t have time for everything. The better you become at prioritizing what matters most, the more effective you’re going to be.

You don’t have time to do everything in life. The good news is, God doesn’t expect you to do everything. The even better news is, there are only a few things worth doing. To really make an impact with your life, figure out what’s important and what’s not, what’s essential and what’s trivial, and then make a decision based on what’s the best use of your life.

November 20 from Open Doors: A Year of Devotions