How to Make Decisions as a Christian
I’ve been thinking about how Christians should make decisions in their lives. The Bible gives us lots of principles of wisdom to keep in mind, but it occurred to me that testing a decision by the Fruit of the Spirit is one of the best indicators we have. We can literally test a decision against the Spirit of God!
The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. (Galatians 5:22-23)
Love – Does this decision show love to God, to others, and to myself? Would anyone see it as unloving, and why?
Joy – Will this decision bring me lasting joy (not momentary happiness)?
Peace – Do I feel peace about this decision? Can I sense it’s the right thing to do, even if it’s hard?
Patience – Am I being patient in making this decision, or am I being impulsive and wanting instant gratification?
Kindness – Does this decision benefit anyone other than myself? How can I ensure that it does?
Goodness – Is this decision righteous? Is there any question about its morality based on what I read in the Scriptures?
Faithfulness – Does this decision allow and help me to keep my previous commitments to God and to others?
Gentleness – Am I making this decision in a way that will be as gentle on others and on myself as possible? Can I make it, speak it, enact it more gently?
Self-Control – Am I exhibiting self-control, or am I allowing my desires, emotions, or temptations to guide me in this decision?
If a decision passes the test of all the fruits of the
Spirit, you can proceed with a clear conscience. If it’s questionable according
to even one of the fruits, pause and reconsider your options.
Daily Devotional Thoughts on the Spiritual Fruit
These are daily thoughts I sent to the men in my House Church, and then to the Light in the Darkness group. They help us see the spiritual fruit in God, and show us what producing those qualities in our own lives should look like.
The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. (Galatians 5:22-23)
Note that the word “fruit” is singular. These are not separate qualities we can grow in our lives. A Christian cannot grow love but not joy. A Christian can’t focus on faithfulness but have no patience. They all work and grow together.
Still, we can examine each face of that one fruit, just as we often look to each Person of the one triune God.
Love… with your heart
Scripture tells us to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.”
Let's think today about how we can Love God the Father with our hearts. Think of everything He’s done for you. Think about the love He has for you. We love Him because He expressed His love for us first.
Love Jesus with your heart today. Think about who Jesus is. Think about what He's like and what kind of person He is. He is supremely worthy of our love and affection and admiration.
Love the Holy Spirit with your heart. Start by asking the Holy Spirit within you, "Are you there?" And see if He responds.
Then remember all the ways He guides you throughout your day. Remember that He's not just some spirit. He's the Spirit of God and the Spirit of Jesus, living inside you.
Love… with your soul
Love God the Father with your soul today. How do we do that?
What comes to mind for me is committing your soul to the Father and engaging in your spiritual practices to express your love for Him.
Love Jesus with your soul today. Think about what He did for you and commit to being His follower. Commit to giving Him your soul.
Love the Holy Spirit with your soul today. Let your spirit lean on and trust His Spirit within you as you go through the day.
Love… with your mind
Love God the Father with your mind today. How do you do that? You can read or listen to something spiritual today that engages your mind. You can journal or think through something in a prayerful attitude.
Love Jesus with your mind today. How do we do that? We make sure every thought that crosses our mind matches up with what Jesus would think.
2 Corinthians 10:5 - We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
Love the Holy Spirit with your mind today. Let Him guide your thoughts. If you have a doubt, ask Him about it. If you have a question, ask Him and then listen for the answer.
Love… with your strength
Love God the Father with your strength today. Whatever work you're doing today, whatever chores you're doing, give God thanks that He gives you the opportunity and strength to do those things. Remember that everything you do is ultimately for Him.
Love Jesus with your strength today. Jesus was a servant to others. Do something for someone else in imitation of Him.
Love the Holy Spirit with your strength today. Ask Him to prioritize your efforts today. What's important to Him to get done?
Joy
Take Joy in the Father for giving you life, for forming you as His special creation.
Take Joy in God the Son, Jesus the Christ, for redeeming you and choosing you to be His disciple.
Take Joy in the Holy Spirit. You have God living inside you!
Peace
Make sure you're at Peace with God the Father today. Pray and ask Him if there's anything He has against you, anything you need to confess and repent of.
Thank Jesus today for making a way for us to have Peace with God. Even now, He is our mediator, interceding for us in Heaven.
The Holy Spirit is there to give you Peace within. Talk to Him about anything that's making you feel uneasy. See what He has to say about it and then go with that.
Patience
Think about Patient God the Father is. His plan of salvation for this world has already been thousands of years in the making. Scripture says He's not slow. He's Patient, giving everyone who will a chance to repent and come to know Him.
If the Father can be that Patient, can you be a little more Patient for things to happen in your life?
Jesus Patiently suffered the pain of His trial and crucifixion. What can you be more Patient with today?
The Holy Spirit is Patient with each one of us. Though we fail daily, He sticks with us.
Who can you stick with in Patience today?
Kindness
Think about how Kind God the Father is toward you. He's the Creator; you're the creature. He doesn't owe you anything, and yet He blesses you richly every day.
Who can you bless today out of a heart of Kindness?
Jesus' Kindness. He had no obligation to give His life for you, and yet He did so willingly. What can you give someone today out of a Kind spirit - your time, some encouragement, a gift?
Kindness of the Holy Spirit. He comes to each one of us and continually gives Himself to us, leading us, inspiring us, teaching us. Who can you give yourself to today?
Goodness
God the Father said everything was very Good when He finished creating. Everything was as it should be, just as He is exactly how He should be.
Are you as you should be? If there's something amiss, pray to have more Goodness springing from your life.
Jesus was Good. He never sinned. He always had pure motives. Pray and ask to be more like Jesus today.
The Holy Spirit is Good. Everything He inspires and guides you to do is exactly what should be done. Trust and listen to Him, and your life will show Goodness.
Faithfulness
Your Heavenly Father has never failed to do something He said He would for you.
Is there anything you said you would do, and need to make good on now?
Jesus was Faithful. Even when following God's plan was hard, He followed through. What difficult thing do you need to be Faithful to God in?
The Holy Spirit is Faithful to you. He never leaves you unless you ask Him to. He will remind you of what's right every single time, no matter if you listened to Him last time or not.
Be Faithful to the Holy Spirit today by being attentive to and obeying His leading.
Gentleness
You do realize God the Father could whoop you, right? But so far, He hasn't. Rather, He deals Gently with you. Let us be Gentle toward others.
In Matthew 12:20, Jesus is described as fulfilling this prophecy: "A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out, till he has brought justice through to victory."
This speaks to me of Jesus' Gentleness. He won't kick you when you're down. He won't beat you up when you're feeling weak. Instead, He wants to strengthen and build you up.
Like Jesus, who can you Gently encourage today?
The Holy Spirit within you is Gentle. He never yells and screams at you. He Gently reminds you of what is right. He is soft-spoken.
To be more like the Holy Spirit, speak Gently to yourself.
Self-Control
God the Father has never sinned, never over-indulged, never said something He regretted later, never lost His temper and had to apologize later.
Let's be more like God the Father.
Jesus was tempted in every way we are but never sinned. Let's be more like Jesus today.
The Holy Spirit within us isn't affected by His environment or the people He's with. He is steady, constant. He is Self-Controlled, not Other-Controlled. Let's be more like the Holy Spirit today.
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