#3–Learn to Make Good Decisions

For an explanation of this series, click here.

For the previous installment in this series (Humility), click here.

Jenaleigh,

Even though choosing not to be like “everyone else” and being humble about it will help a lot in life, don’t forget to take the time to develop the ability to make good decisions. I’m not the first dad to ever write about, this, so I’ll defer to the words of a much wiser man: Solomon.

2 To know wisdom and instruction, To perceive the words of understanding,

3 To receive the instruction of wisdom, Justice, judgment, and equity;

4 To give prudence to the simple, To the young man knowledge and discretion—

5 A wise man will hear and increase learning, And a man of understanding will attain wise counsel,

6 To understand a proverb and an enigma, The words of the wise and their riddles.

7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, But fools despise wisdom and instruction.

(Proverbs 1:2–7, NKJV)

Hold on to these words. Realize that you don’t have to make your own mistakes just for the sake of learning. Now, you don’t need to be haughty about that (remember, humility…) but you can help others to realize this as well.

You see, your peers are going to cry out at some point to their parents, “Why don’t you let me live my life the way I want! Let me make my own mistakes.” Some parents will oblige. We never will.

We know that life is much better, and it is much wiser, if you can learn to learn not only from your mistakes (and you WILL make them), but to be observant and learn from the mistakes of others! You don’t have to “re-invent the wheel” and go through an endless process of trial and error to find what’s right!

In other words, wisdom will teach you that you don’t always have to conduct the experiment in life. You just need to be observant! Seek understanding!

Notice what a wise man once wrote:

30 I went by the field of the lazy man, And by the vineyard of the man devoid of understanding;

31 And there it was, all overgrown with thorns; Its surface was covered with nettles; Its stone wall was broken down.

32 When I saw it, I considered it well; I looked on it and received instruction:

(Proverbs 24:30–32, NKJV)

This man didn’t have to be lazy himself to understand the consequences! He didn’t have to damage his livelihood to know the value of hard work! He could look at the mistakes of others, and learn this valuable lesson. The same principle of gaining understanding applies to every aspect of life.

Why do I go to great lengths to say this? Well, sometimes the mistakes that your peers will make will have lifelong consequences. I saw kids my age have car accidents that affect their lives for years to come, damage their bodies with drugs to the point that they are no longer the person they were, and, at the very least, complicate their lives because of bad decisions boys and girls made together. I decided that I didn’t need to do what they did just to figure out whether it was a good idea or not. Seek wisdom.

Be assured, the same principle certainly works in adulthood.

By the way, this isn’t anything novel, or new. Your daddy wasn’t born this way. I decided to be this way. I’m not any smarter than anyone else. I just learned that making good decisions starts with the Bible. After all, where else can I go to find the words of eternal life (John 6:68)? Jesus compared obeying his words to being a wise man (Matthew 7:24-27). Think about it: When it comes to getting to heaven, there’s no way to experiment! We just have to take God’s word for what it says, and do it (Hebrews 11:6ff.)!

8 He who gets wisdom loves his own soul; He who keeps understanding will find good.

(Proverbs 19:8, NKJV)