It’s Your Choice

This post is a part of the Five Minute Friday link up. We write for just 5 minutes on a one-word prompt without heavy editing and see what happens. Today’s prompt is “yours.”

[start timer]

Boy is it ever easy to get sucked into the shallow thinking and arguments of the world around us. What I really want people to get is that the choice of whether or not to go to those places is completely theirs.

I used to tell my kids this all the time: You have no control over how someone reacts to something you do, but you can totally control your own reaction. If you choose to get mad at small offenses, then that’s your choice.

If you choose to engage in reckless rhetoric or intentional shaming or hurtful speech, that’s your choice.

If you make the decision to be more like Jesus in all that you do, think and say, that’s your choice as well.

What you need to know, though, is that each and every choice has a consequence. Will you be a peacemaker or will you contribute to the vitriol?

Romans 12:18 in the Common English Bible says, “If possible, to the best of your ability, live at peace with all people.”

To the best of your ability.

That’s huge. Because there are some things we can’t control. The weather, the stock market, our kids’ decisions. Other people. But we can control our tongues, and we can control our reactions.

Ah yes, you might say, but easier said than done. Granted. But if you are submitted to the lordship of Christ, then that control is given over to him as well. And he is able.

[time’s up]

photo by Aaron Burden from UnSplash

A Fork In The Road

I try to ride my bike every day during summer break. Recently, whenever I ride it seems that I come upon a fork in the road. Literally. The one pictured here happened to be a real metal one, but most of the time they’re plastic. After about the third one, David said to me, “Do you think God’s trying to tell you something?”

No.

At least I don’t think so.

But the fact is, we come upon forks in the road all the time in life. Sometimes they’re big forks: Should I take this job or that job? Should I marry this person or not? Should I move? Which church should I attend? What should I major in? Which college should I go to? Should I even go to college?

But sometimes, those forks can be small, like the little plastic ones I come upon on my rides. But they can be significant nonetheless: Should I choose to say the kind word or lash out at my spouse/sibling/friend? Shall I let bitterness take root over some perceived injustice in my life? Should I help this homeless person holding the sign on the side of the road?

None of these are necessarily going to change the course of our life, but they can affect which direction we let our hearts go each day. Everyone has millions of choices they make in their life. Some are innocuous: What shall I wear? What shall I have for breakfast? Some are choices for good or for evil: Should I tell that cashier that she just gave me back the wrong change? Should I tell the people at the grocery store that I inadvertently wasn’t charged for an item I ended up bringing home?

Forks in the road. Will our direction bring us closer to God or take us a step away?

The choice is up to us.