What Is Your Authority?
Every time we face a decision we have to decide what authority we will follow to make the choice before us. What authority do you use? Do you have multiple sources of authority or one? It is a very important matter for each of us. It determines what we do in our lives.
Some people use logic as their authority. They consider the problem they face. Then, they lay out all of the options available to them. As they view all of them, they choose the one that seems to have the most strengths and the least weaknesses. This is pretty much trial and error. We do not have enough knowledge to foresee all of the possibilities, so we end up making the wrong choice many times.
Some people decide on the basis of emotion. They do not want to feel badly, and they do not want others to feel badly, so they always choose the feel good solution. Others try to choose on the basis of love. The trouble with this approach is that we have to have the right understanding of love in every instance. What definition of love do we use? It is very subjective, so that you can do what seems best to you.
Some people go by their experience. In fact, there is a saying that "experience is the only teacher." That is not the truth. Of course, we can learn in other ways. However, when we base our decisions on experience, again, we are limited in the options we consider, because our experience is limited.
There is only one way to make the right decision every time. We must base our decisions on an infallible, inerrant authority. Some people do not believe that we have such a source of authority. However, I beg to differ with them. Anyone who makes an objective study of the Bible will find that it is God's revelation of Himself and His ways to us. Since our way of thinking and acting is not the same as His, we must have the Bible to guide us.(Isaiah 55:8,9) I have found that the Bible has a direct teaching or principle for about 90% of our decisions. Then, for the other decisions we can discern the heart and mind of God from the stories in the Bible and from the Spirit's leading in our hearts based on what the Bible says. It is an excellent way to make every decision, because we trust God, and we trust what He has shown us to be the truth in the Bible. Then, we can know we are depending on the proper authority, and we can know that God will bless our decision.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Luke 21-23.
Some people use logic as their authority. They consider the problem they face. Then, they lay out all of the options available to them. As they view all of them, they choose the one that seems to have the most strengths and the least weaknesses. This is pretty much trial and error. We do not have enough knowledge to foresee all of the possibilities, so we end up making the wrong choice many times.
Some people decide on the basis of emotion. They do not want to feel badly, and they do not want others to feel badly, so they always choose the feel good solution. Others try to choose on the basis of love. The trouble with this approach is that we have to have the right understanding of love in every instance. What definition of love do we use? It is very subjective, so that you can do what seems best to you.
Some people go by their experience. In fact, there is a saying that "experience is the only teacher." That is not the truth. Of course, we can learn in other ways. However, when we base our decisions on experience, again, we are limited in the options we consider, because our experience is limited.
There is only one way to make the right decision every time. We must base our decisions on an infallible, inerrant authority. Some people do not believe that we have such a source of authority. However, I beg to differ with them. Anyone who makes an objective study of the Bible will find that it is God's revelation of Himself and His ways to us. Since our way of thinking and acting is not the same as His, we must have the Bible to guide us.(Isaiah 55:8,9) I have found that the Bible has a direct teaching or principle for about 90% of our decisions. Then, for the other decisions we can discern the heart and mind of God from the stories in the Bible and from the Spirit's leading in our hearts based on what the Bible says. It is an excellent way to make every decision, because we trust God, and we trust what He has shown us to be the truth in the Bible. Then, we can know we are depending on the proper authority, and we can know that God will bless our decision.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Luke 21-23.