Monday, January 11, 2010
Our Choices Make Us
Run from anything that stimulates youthful lusts. Instead, pursue righteous living, faithfulness, love, and peace. Enjoy the companionship of those who call on the Lord with pure hearts.
2 Timothy 2:22
Why is it that some Christians succeed, while others who make a profession of faith miserably fail? Why is it that some seem to run the race of life and cross the finish line with flying colors, while others just collapse in a heap? It is because of choices—choices that we make each and every day. We make our choices, and our choices make us. And life is filled with choices.
From the moment you get up in the morning until the moment you lay your head on your pillow, you will have made hundreds—maybe even thousands—of choices. Some are simple choices that don't mean a lot, and others are choices that mean a great deal. It comes down to this: If you want to grow spiritually, you will. And if you don't want to grow spiritually, you won't. It is not the luck of the draw or something that only happens randomly; it is making the right choice to do the right thing.
We either will go forward as Christians, or we will go backward. We either will progress, or we will regress. We either will gain ground, or we will lose ground. And if we stand still, we will lose ground. So this is the kind of commitment where we should be seeking, on a daily basis, to grow spiritually, to progress, and to learn—and not just hold our own.
We all need to commit ourselves to growing spiritually, because there are things that impair our spiritual growth, and there are things that help it. We want to live lives that will honor God and stay away from the things that will drag us down spiritually. Because spiritual growth is based on doing what is good—and not doing what is bad.
Copyright © 2010 by Harvest Ministries. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1996, 2004. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
For more relevant and biblical teaching from Pastor Greg Laurie, go to www.harvest.org
and
to listen to Greg Laurie's daily broadcast on OnePlace.com, click here.
SPECIAL OFFER
Hope for Hurting Hearts
In times of tragedies and trials, certain things become evident:
- This life will have its sorrows
- God loves us
- Jesus weeps in our times of pain
- God can be glorified through human suffering
Hope for Hurting Hearts, Pastor Greg Laurie's new book, examines these truths, revealing God's love and care for us, and shows how we can find hope, even in the midst of the most unbearable pain and sorrow.
You can have your own copy of Hope for Hurting Hearts by Greg Laurie in appreciation for your gift to Harvest Ministries this month. 
