Welcome to part 2 of our Success in Life 4-part series.
Part one taught us the importance of having good counselors in our lives. Some people have picked up tragedies instead of strategies because of the influence of bad counselors.
As you progress through life and get older, things you pick up along the way become a result of your own decisions.
SCRIPTURE IN VIEW: 1 CORINTHIANS 13:11
“When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child. But when I grew up, I put away childish things.”
What this scripture is saying is that we make decisions according to the level of wisdom we have. The application of our level of wisdom in our decision-making will shed light on how mature we are.
You can only speak according to what you understand.
“A fool at forty is a fool forever , an idiot at 50 is an idiot for eternity” – PTA
It is not your age that makes you who you are, it’s the knowledge and maturity you have imbibed in life.
Remember that success is an accomplishment of a thing or an assignment. There are successful successes and successful failures. A person can have everything in life and still be a failure.
This is why some millionaires and billionaires tend to regret their life decisions upon their deathbed. It could be because they did not spend more time with their families or missed out on honoring their parents, such people are said to be materially successful but did not complete their assignments.
When we were children, we did things like children and based on what we saw or were told.
As we move into the phase of being grown-ups, a time where we are to form our own judgments, values, and actions, our decisions are what will set the foundation or improve the trajectory of our lives.
Though material wealth may be an indication of success in life, that will not be our focus. We will be looking at 5 things that will set us on the trajectory to making decisions.
1. Form Values: Make decisions based on these values. These values are usually set by comparing where you are coming from to where you find yourself in life at that moment.
For example, if you come from a poor home and you were taught to be content, this will lay the foundation for contentment in your adult life as you will be exposed to more things that you cannot have and vice versa.
2. Cultivate Friendships: Be part of social circles. remember that in life there are two major decisions you take including marital decisions. it is now time to cultivate and nurture the positive ones.
This is an important step because the tendency to follow bad or good starts here and follows you.
You must have strong discernment to create and cultivate godly friendships.
3. Capitalize on your environment: Be determined to adjust to the environment you find yourself. Make a conscious effort to do away with attitudes and behavioral characteristics that do not fit into your current environment positively.
4. Choose your Career Wisely: If you allow yourself to be pushed into a career you have no interest in, you will struggle.
5. Choose your, Spouse, wisely: This is the most important decision on this list. Irrespective of your foundation – polygamous, single-parent home or two-parent home, it is important to choose wisely as this is the heaviest influence on your life’s purpose.
PEOPLE IN THE BIBLE WHO EMPLOYED THESE STRATEGIES AND WERE SUCCESSFUL
1. Daniel (Dan 1:7 -8) – Daniel was a commendable man of integrity, He was always with his friends, and his environment did not change him even though he was a slave. He went on to serve 5 kings.
We can argue that Daniel must have gotten these wise initiatives as a child and begun to implement them as he grew older.
2. Joseph (Genesis 39: 6-9) – Joseph found himself having to make a decision at a very young age, with Potiphar’s wife,. Many of us would have used this opportunity to gain more favor but he had integrity and chose the right decision.
So, what then should we base all decisions on? INTEGRITY!
Even in the little things. These eventually add up to become big things that become ingrained in the very fabric of our makeup. So think again when you want to call in sick at work when you are not sick or when you misappropriate funds at work and don’t report it when you see evil and disassociate yourself from it.
REFLECTION
What decision have you made today?
What decisions have you made in the past?
What decisions have you made that are not working for you?
What values have your decisions added to you?
What are the things you are building that God has no hand in?
“Success may seem slow in the beginning especially when you are walking in integrity and we may not see the benefit for years but rest assured, you will reap the rewards.”
FURTHER BIBLE READING
- 1 Samuel 17:34 – 38
- 1 Kings 12:12-15
- Hebrews 11:24
- Acts 7:15
PRAYERS
- Lord give me the grace to make the right decisions.
- Lord reveal any decisions I have made that are negatively affecting my future and that of my children.
- Lord, as I repent of any evil past decision, restore me according to your mercy.
- Lord, give me the grace to discern good friendships and sustain them.
- Lord, make me and my children bold enough to stand for integrity at all times.
