Biblical Decision Making

Most Christians, most of the time, do not make their decisions (great or small) in a genuinely Biblical manner. If we can be painfully honest with that which is usually not flattering about us, the decisional method most of us use is that of deciding or doing exactly what we want or “feel” we “should” do and then justifying it with “Christian jargon” after the fact. Having made up our minds, we then pray for the Lord’s blessing upon what has already been “locked in concrete”.

Decisions made on the exceedingly shaky basis of (changeable) feelings and or on personal experience(s) usually result in sorrow, disillusionment and disappointment, for what has taken place in the use of a secular, empirical and subjective method substituted for what should be a sacred, deductive and objective process of intelligent thinking, based upon the eternally true principles of God’s word. In short, God wants us to have the “mind of Christ” in all decisions of consequence, and learn to avoid, yes even reject, the world’s way of thinking and acting.

This is not to condemn feelings as such, which are God-given part of our personality, but rather to warn against the pitfalls of making decisions first on the basis of emotion rather than on the basis of Biblical principles. Feelings were never intended by God to be the basis of making decisions that please Him. If you follow the guidance below carefully, as suggested, you will note that there is a proper place for the consideration of your sincere “feelings”, but that step should be the caboose on the train, not the engine!