Listen to God

We were blessed and honored to have guest speaker Linda Hilderman join us yesterday morning.  Every day we make hundreds of choices and decisions - some trivial, others life impacting.  Linda spoke to us on the importance of making wise decisions and that the key to making wise choices an be summer up in 3 words... "Listen To God".  Proverbs 2 says if you want better insight and discernment, learn the importance of having reverance for the Lord and He will show you how to distinguish right from wrong.   Linda spoke about six steps we ask ourselves take to test our decisions:

1. The Ideal Test - is it in harmony with God's word.  This should always be the first consideration.  Is there any specific scripture teaching on this issue?  We need to base our decisions on the unchanging word of God and not on popular opinion or tradition or even feelings.
2.  The Integrity Test - would I want anyone to know about this decision?  We need to develop integrity... you are who you are when no one is watching.  Be more concerned about your character (inner self) than your reputation (public self).  Provergs 10 says sin will be exposed so don't do things that require a secret life.  Money is often a test of character that many people fail. 
3. The Improvement Test - will this make me a better person and a better Christ-follower?  We have Freedon in Christ but not everything we are"free" to do is beneficial or even necessary.  We need to guard our hears and minds and practice discipline in the books we read, the movies we watch, etc.
4. The Independence Test - could this become addicting or begin to control  my life?  Even good things can begin to control our lives if it takes up all our time and energy.
5. The Influence Test - will my decision hurt anyone else?  We are responsible for the effect our decisions have on others and will be asked to give an account of our actions.  We need to think about the effect our decisions will have on the people we influence... family, neighbours, friends, co-workers, etc.  We must remember that people who are notn Christians are watching us and are deciding if they want what we have.  The true tests come when we do not get our way or things don't go as planned.  Martin Luther King said, "The measure of a man is not where he stands in times of comfort, but where he stands in times of controversy and challenge."  It is the space between what we know is right and what we do where we often lose people.
6. The Improvement Test - is this the best use of my time and my life?  Ephesians 5:15-17 tells us to use our time wisely and use every opportunity to do good.  Time is life and we all have a limited amount given to us.  Once wasted, we cannot get it back.  We need to redeem the use of our time, even time spent doing mundane tasks to pray.

 
Linda continued, stating, "Other things to do to help in making decisions... take time with God to pray and ask for His direction... prayer releases power and wisdom into a situation, talk to people you trust who have Godly insight and wisdom, don't look back and second guess decisions, in marriage look for unity and be willing to compromise, learn and grow from mistakes knowing that there will be consequences.  We decide every day whether to follow God's wisdom or our own.  We can be bold and strong when we walk closely with God.  We all make choices but in the end, our choices make us!" 

Thank you so much for sharing your notes with us Linda!