Making Godly Decisions

By Guest Blogger: Nick Covanes

One of the biggest challenges a new believer has is in the area of decision making. Up until the point of their conversion their decisions were guided primarily by their own desires and now the new believer finds that he or she has to make decsions that will honor God. Not an easy task when you have been accustomed for so long in making decisions based on your own will with no regard to God. And to make matters more difficult for the new believer, often times they will make decsions based on legalism because of the fact that they have been delivered from a life contrary to the Spirit of God.

I have been confronted with the question at times, “How can I know how to make the right decision.” And so today, I would like to leave you with some wisdom that I believe is sound and supported by Scripture when it comes to making godly decisions.

First, we have the Holy Spirit. When you become a believer you are indwelt by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit takes up residence in you and I to help us, to comfort us, and to teach us the Word of God. And so I would say that the first step in making a godly decision is to pray about the direction that LORD would have you go. The Holy Spirit will guide you and even intercede for you on your behalf with regard to making the right decision, the godly decsion. When you embark upon the course of your decision the Holy Spirit will prompt you and encourage you, or else He will convict you and cause a sense of spiritual unrest with regard to your decision.

[Jhn 14:26 NKJV]”But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.

[Rom 8:26 NKJV] Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.

Second, we have godly counsel from men and women of the faith. A great place to start finding good counsel is amongst the multitude of believers. When you have a big decision to make and you have prayed about it, go to your church and seek the advice, wisdom, and prayers of those who have walked in the faith for several seasons and can offer sound and godly advice. Your pastor is a great place to start, but even if he is busy (and I suspect most pastors are) there are others in leadership that your pastor has appointed, godly men who know and understand the counsel of the LORD from years of service to Him. The church is a great resource for helping you know the will of God regarding the decisions that you have to make in this life.

[Pro 11:14 NKJV] Where [there is] no counsel, the people fall; But in the multitude of counselors [there is] safety.

Finally, open your Bible. Listen, God has made His Word such that it is useful to you in every decision no matter how great or how small. His Word will effectively guide you on the right path in all decsions. God has preserved His Word and we can hold it in our hands and read it for ourselves. The beauty of the Word of God is that it always right! God has given us His Word as the sole instruction manual for living a godly life in service to Him. Each page has within the power of life and death for the believer. The Word of God is so wonderful and perfect and God holds it in such esteem that He regards it above His name. That is a powerful statement considering that we can go to His Word for wisdom, which He pours out on each of us liberally if we will but ask.

[2Ti 3:16 NKJV] All Scripture [is] given by inspiration of God, and [is] profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,

[2Ti 3:17 NKJV] that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.

And so no matter how big or how small the decision is that you have to make, you can always call on the LORD for wisdom and receive it through: prayer, godly counsel, and the Word of God. Let me add that of the three, the final authority is in the WORD. Listen, if you pray and you feel that the Holy Spirit is leading you in a direction that is counter to the Word of God, then it is not the Holy Spirit guiding you. That gut feeling you have is likely indigestion. This is because God will not contradict Himself. His Word is the final authority. This holds true for any advice that you recieve from godly men and women. If the advice they give runs counter to the Word, their advice is poor and should be disregarded. Again, the preeminence should always be given to God’s Word, the Bible.

The beauty of leaning on God for all of your decsions is that it puts the direction for your life in the right hands; God’s hands. God is faithful and wants the very best for you. If you think about it, God knows the beginning from the end. Who better to put your trust in regarding your decsions than the LORD?

[Pro 3:5 NKJV] Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding;

[Pro 3:6 NKJV] In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.