Remember
• We are the SUM TOTAL of the decisions that we make
I firmly believe God wants us to make great, wise dec. in life
in all the choices that lay b4 us, God wants us to choose wisely
• Our decisions determine our DESTINY
that is sooo true - we’ve said this from the beg. - all of us have made some dumb, WWIT dec. in life and have suffered the conseq for them
Here’s what we’re gonna do today, we’re gonna look at who we are as people, how God has wired us up - b/c this has a major impact on how we make these dec. and choices in front of us everyday - who are you as a dec. maker?
as we begin to discover our design, the unique way God created each of us, I think we’ll see how heavily that influences the kind of choices and dec. we make
And we’ll see that our personalities impact our dec.
So let’s hone in on you - think only of yourselves - don’t nudge your spouse and say, aahh man, that is so you!
I want you to think and look at yourself today
Discover our Design in Decision Making
You’ve got style - what we need to understand is they no right or wrongs per-say - all of them have strengths and weaknesses which we need to know about OK - get paired w/ the opposite quite often, spouse, teammate, bro, sister - we need to know that others are diff. but today focus on yourself
Decision Making Styles:
• THE OVER-THINKER, OVER ANALYSIZER
do you make dec. like that - you find yourself playing over the sit/scenrio or dec. over and over over almost paralyzing yourself from making a dec. “I’m not sure, I don’t know what to do... so I’ll think about it some more
(I’ve gotta make the right career choice, this looks good, great benefits, it’s a good fit for me, but i don’t know, what if something better comes along? TAKE the job already!)
this person just thinks a bit too much and they turn stuff over, over, over like a rotisserie grill
who in the bible might be like this?
Biblical Character: MOSES - Exodus 3-4
over analyzer reluctant leader - constantly questioning himself - God tells him to go to pharaoh, moses says, oh God you got the wrong guy, I stststuder, I cant speak, how about my brother Aaron he’s the man, he’s like the game show talk host what about him? what if they don’t accept me? what if I mess up? what if I don’t do exactly what you want done?
w/ the over ana, over thinker - God doesn’t want you to live like that - He wants you to step out, but this person gets stuck often times
• THE UNDER-THINKER, IMPULSIVE Thinker
“I’d rather make a bad dec. than no dec. at all”
and they can make some wrong dec.”But I don’t care, I’m gonna make a dec. b/c I’m that kinda guy or gal”
Who’s impulsive in the bible?
Biblical Character: PETER - luke 22; matthew 14, 26
“Oh Jesus, I’ll never deny you, always be a follower - Jesus says, you’re gonna forget about me pretty quick, in fact this very night” in the garden they came to arrest Christ, what did Peter do - so funny he tried to fight the best trained fighting troops -
here’s this impulsive fisherman taking on the Navy Seals of the day and age - Peter was an impulsive guy
Remember: Under-thinkers/Impulsive thinkers make RASH decisions
next week - how many of you have made a an unwise, rash dec. w/ money? never let an impulsive, under-thinker control the checkbook - you just don’t
(checkout lanes knick knacks - impulsive - wal-mart displays)
marketing gurus know that
THE NON-CONFRONTATIONALIST, the NONBOAT ROCKING types
don’t wanna rock the boat, don’t wanna step on anybody’s toes
I’m just gonna shrink back into my shell, I’ll just keep quiet, even though... I wont say anything, even though I should
b/c I don’t wanna rock the boat - I don’t like conflict or I want everybody to like me
someone in scrip is guy by the name of Eli (OT Eli)
Biblical Character: ELI - 1 Samuel 2
He was a temple priest, he was totally clueless or chose to be clueless about his kids behavior - he has 2 sons, Hophni and Phinehas - idea for your next child - these kids were on the steroids of evil - out of control - they were having sex w/ the girls who worked in the temple - abusing the sacrificial system - Eli knew about alot of this stuff, yet did nothing about it - didn’t want to hurt them, step on their toes... probably didn’t want to look bad himself, so he ignored it - head in the sand
b/c he didn’t confront them his life was a tragedy - never lived up to what could have and should have been
• THE PLEASURE-SEEKER, FUN FILLED FANATIC
I’m sure we don’t have any pleasure seeking types here right
“When I make a dec. I just want it to be... fun”
“If it’s fun, I’m in - I’ll choose it, if it’s not, I’m not going there”
they may say i just wanna have fun, and hey God wants me to have fun
Remember: It’s not so much that God wants us
to be happy…He wants us to be OBEDIENT
and in that obedience comes joy - that’s why we 1st ask bible?
when facing dec. and choices we may not always feel like going in that direction (talked about basis of dumb, WWIT - if it feels right) you may not really want to go there, but if that’s God’s direction and we honor Him in those dec. the feelings will follow.
Biblical Character: SAMSON - Judges 14
He was like the biblical body builder - mr. atlas/m. univof his day
God kept telling him don’t mess around w/ the Philistines - they are what would be called, ungodly, so don’t associate w/ them it will only get you in trouble
So Samson chose the opposite - I’ll do what I want to do, b/c those Phil. can’t hang w/me anyway - he says, I’m gonna do what’s pleasurable - have you ever done that?
then somewhere down the road you’re wishing you wouldn’t have - so Samson tells his parents, his parents (maybe trying to find a loophole - how close can i get w/out getting burned)
“I’ve seen a Phil. woman, now go get her for me”
keep reading it says, She looks good to me - in other words, she’s a HOTTIE
b/c he went down that road of dec. making his life was a tragedy
what happened with him is he wasted yr. after yr. of great things he could have done for God but he chose to pleasure seek
instead, until he cycled back around to God - but so much wasted time - this is what we’re trying to avoid - we want to make a commitment to making great, wise dec.
• THE DOGMATIC decision maker, I’m RIGHT everyone else is WRONG Type
how many of you are married to that type?
they say i just know I’m right, i have made up my mind and it ain’t gonna change - this dogmatic I’m right dec. maker sees every dec. as an obstacle to overcome - so they’ll just knock down wall, after wall, after wall - you know what ends up happening - they can hurt people, anybody that gets in their way
They dont mind any collateral damage, people they may have stepped on on their way to a dec.
Biblical Character: PAUL - Acts 7-8
B4 he gave his life to Christ he was killing christians and he felt it was his way or the highway and he abused people. Then one day he met Jesus and he was tenderized on the inside by the work of the Spirit - God totally changed his life
Which tells me God can change anyone
• THE PROCRASTINATOR, SOMEDAY Decider
You know I’m not sure if I’m a procrastinator, I’ll get back to you on that one
Procras wait til the last minute right - put things off b/c of fear,
sometimes b/c of laziness - tomorrow I’ll get to that or next week
Acts 24
Biblical Character: FELIX
invited Paul to talk about Jesus, felix says vs. 25 go away for now - procrastinator, the bible says felix was convicted but sent Paul off anyway - when it’s more convenient I’ll call for you again - you know what saddens me, is that there are a huge # of people who are putting off, procras. about the greatest dec. of all time of their entire life just putting it off
maybe when I get my act together, you know sure I’ll do it, just not right now
You may be looking over this stuff today thinking well I kinda fit into this personality or that one and I see some of my weaknesses here - so how can I change those, what can I do?
We need to look at ourselves, our personalities, our natural
tendencies and the 1st step is to ask
Question: What does the BIBLE have to say?
it’s the God filter
The 2nd step for us in all the gray areas is ask what is the wise
If I’m impulsive, under-thinker then I can look at myself & ask,
In light of my PAST EXPERIENCES,
what is the WISE thing for me to do?
In light of my PRESENT CONDITIONS and circumstances,
what is the WISE thing for me to do?
In light of my FUTURE HOPES & DREAMS,
what is the WISE thing for me to do?
not what you feeel like doing, our natural tendencies may take us down the wrong road, so it’s good to know what those natural
tendencies are for us to make wise dec.
Key Concepts:
• Over-thinkers need to TRUST
• Under-thinkers need to WAIT
• Non-confrontationalists need to STAND
• Pleasure seekers need to OBEY
• Dogmatic decision makers need to FORGIVE
• Procrastinators need to DECIDE
No comments:
Post a Comment