Life is made up of choices. We can make good or bad choices. It is said that choices have consequences. What choices do you make in your day to day living and how do these choices affect those around you? Men have a bigger responsibility in their choices as they have a following in their homes.
1. Men: Make the Right Choices
Joshua 24:15
But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day
whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the
gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household,
we will serve the LORD." (NIV)
Life is made up of choices. We can make good or bad choices. It is said that choices have
consequences. What choices do you make in your day to day living and how do these
choices affect those around you? Men have a bigger responsibility in their choices as they
have a following in their homes.
The choices we make everyday affect us and those around us. I don’t know if most
people even stop and think about that, but the reality is very true. Everyone’s actions
affect everyone else. If that were not true, then we wouldn’t live in such a sinful and
wicked world.
If I wake up in the morning, have a bad attitude, yell, get in a fight and say something to
one of my family members, that is going to impact their day negatively and as they move
forward interacting with others, I have changed the outcome of that by my interactions,
adversely effecting their day. This is not to say that they can’t make a choice to change
their actions. My experience has been that people respond to negativity with negativity as
well as positivity with positivity. They let these actions control how they move forth.
Again this is about making right choices and choosing not to let even negative
interactions keep you off course. Even in the midst of bad news or a bad interaction, you
still can make a choice of how you will respond to it.
We have choices about everything in life, little ones and big ones alike. In Kenya we
value our freedom of choice. We choose where we live and what kind of home we live in.
We choose to work, go to school or even just live off of others. We also make choices
about our attitudes and opinions of others. There are so many choices we don’t even stop
to think about, we just go through with our day-to-day routines, continuing to make most
of those same choices.
I find it interesting how we get caught up in our regular routines that we often miss it
when our choices become harmful or toxic. We end up making poor choices that result
in repeated patterns of poor behavior. Somehow we never thought we would make those
choices or cross those lines. Now here we are making these extremely harmful choices
for our lives that affect others and we now have to work harder than ever at making right
choices to become healthy again.
Most of the choices we make are influenced by those around us, what we see and hear in
the society and what affects our daily living. As a Christian, some of the choices I make
are as a result of the Christian values I attach in my life. While I am not about going to
try to tell everyone the choices they should make, I do believe that making well-educated
2. and informed choices is the best way to go about it doing this. Don’t let someone else
tell you what to do, make sure that you can stand on your own two feet when making a
choice. Most people are going to try to get you to believe that what they think is right.
While some of what it out there is truth, some of it is really messed up matters and not
what you need for your life. People will try to tell you that what you believe is wrong in
many different ways. We all have our own beliefs about what’s right and wrong. We
have our core beliefs and those are generally what guide us. Right or wrong, good or
bad, the choices I make for my life aren’t the same as others would make. However
based on what I have for my life, I need to make sure that choices I make don’t affect my
life and family in a negative manner.
There are specific issues out there I believe that all real men need to be aware of and take
a stance on. Real men should reject apathy and passivity and stand up against injustice.
Real men stand up for what is right, protect those who need protecting and aren’t afraid
to defend what they believe even if it means laying your life down for it. Few men out
there are willing to lay their life down for their beliefs, some have and some still choose
to make that right choice. These are men I respect and admire.
I also believe in choosing to follow the “Golden Rule” - “ Do unto others as you would
have them do unto you.”
Matthew 7:12
‘So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up
the Law and the Prophets’. (NIV)
I also believe in choosing to follow the laws of the land. Even though I may not agree
with everything, I still believe out of respect you make good choices.
Real men’s choices are more about the greater picture and less about themselves. They
are able to step back, see the whole picture and realize my choices impact everyone
around me. I make good choices because I care about others.
SO WHATEVER CHOICES YOU MAKE, YOU MUST BE READY TO BEAR THE
CONSEQUENCES OF THE SAME. DON’T CRY FOUL. YOU HAVE YOURSELF
TO BLAME.
Your family’s future is dependent on your choices today. My advice to you as a man is to
be wise in whatever choices you will be making in life.