Your Choices Today Determine Who You Are Tomorrow | Choose To Seek God

How many choices do you think you make in a day? Some decisions are so routine that it does not even seem like you are making choices. For example, I have coffee every morning. Lots and lots of coffee. Is that a choice? I guess so.

Making coffee has become such a part of my morning that almost without thinking I wake up, stumble to the coffeemaker, and begin my ritual of measuring out the coffee beans.

It’s funny—I know the exact amount of beans to pour out, and yet I still measure them out every time as though it were rocket science. Each morning, with cup in hand, my day begins.

And I make choice after choice as I work through the day—and so do you.

In the 18 years that my husband, Steve, was a youth minister, he repeatedly told the kids in our youth program:

Your choices today determine who you are tomorrow. 

As we have watched kids from our youth ministry grow up to adulthood, Steve’s words have proven true. A person’s choices definitely influence their character and the direction they take in life.

Some choices are of little consequence, while others will change your future forever and will greatly influence the next generation. As you walk along the path of this life, do you involve the Lord in the choices you make?

Rather than carelessly making each decision without much thought, do you make an effort to prepare yourself to identify and follow the Lord’s leading?

Have you ever considered that your choices

Both big and small

Are a reflection of who you are?

It is God’s desire that His children would walk so closely to His heart that His guidance would be an ongoing source of courage, comfort, and refuge. When we seek Him at every step of the way, we can know the assurance that we are more likely to make the right kinds of choices in life.*

At the beginning of a new year I always take some time to look back over the past year to examine my life. I ask myself what goals have I accomplished and were those pursuits for God’s glory or for my own comfort and gratification.

As I read God’s Word I ask Him to discern my heart and my motives, so that I might confess and surrender my own desires to His perfect will.

No matter how much I commit to seeking the Lord first in the coming year, I am always faced with the times I did in my own strength what God is calling me to lay at His feet.

The Holy Spirit’s prompting me to, “Draw near to God” humbles me when I consider that the Creator of heaven and earth is beckoning me to come away with Him––to fall more in love with Him in the coming year than I have been in the past.

How about you?

As the year comes to an end

do you take time to evaluate

how you’re living your life?

Do you long to draw near to God

in the coming year?

You may be asking, “How do I draw near to the Lord?”

Let’s look at three steps you can take to draw near to the heart of God.

Seek Him daily

There’s no way around it. If you’re wanting God to be so near to you that you are led by His Spirit you must daily draw near to Him through the pages of Scripture.

James 4:8 says, Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. God will meet with you when you seek Him in the Word.

Confess your sin daily

Many Christians will read their Bibles regularly but wonder why they never sense the nearness of God. The answer lies in realizing the importance of consistently asking God to reveal to you your sin so you can confess, and turn away from that sin toward nearness to Christ.

While James promised God’s nearness in James 4:8a, Listen to his further instruction:

Cleanse your hands, you sinners,

And purify your hearts, you double-minded

James 4:8b,

Ask God for help daily

Remember: It is God who works in you to both will and to do His good pleasure (Philippians 2:13).

He is the One who can guide you to become the person He intends you to be. So make it the habit of your life to ask God for help in your every decision.

Seek Out Godly Mentors

Titus 2 instructs the older women to teach the younger. I regularly meet young women at my speaking engagements who complain they have no older godly mentors in their lives.

Hearing this breaks my heart because young women are desperate for mentors. When I was a young wife and mother I reached out to women who I wanted to emulate:

• I went to Bible studies with them
• I spent time with them
• I became friends with them

And do you know what I found?

As we did life together,

their godly influence trained me

to become the woman I longed to be.

So look for friendships with older women. I think sometimes older women are intimidated when a younger woman asks them to be their mentor. Often the woman being asked doesn’t think she has anything to offer the next generation, so her own insecurity influences her availability.

But friendship, that’s another story. If you make yourself available to attend women’s Bible Studies you just might find yourself connecting with women in the class.

Read books daily

Books grounded in a biblical worldview and written by godly women a fantastic way to be mentored. I pour my heart and soul into the books that I write. (Find a list of all of Rhonda Stoppe’s incredible books here.) And as I write I pray for God to use the book to mentor readers toward building a NO REGRETS LIFE.

I am amazed at how many emails I receive from women who God is guiding through the pages of my books.

“But I’m not a reader,” you say? I get it. You’re busy. But I’m guessing you read social media all day long. Am I right? If so, we’ve established that you’re a reader. So how about you try to read at least one informative Christian book every 6 months? That’s only two books per year.

How? Start out by reading just five minutes a day. I’ve heard the way people read books is just ten minutes a day. Imagine what you might learn to help you make daily choices to become tomorrow the woman you hope to be!

Your choices today will determine who you are tomorrow. So, in the coming year live each day intentionally. Apply the principles in this article and press on to become the woman you hope to be––you won’t regret it!

*Excerpt Moms Raising Sons to Be Men (Harvest House Publishers) For more information on Rhonda Stoppe’s book “Moms Raising Sons to be Men”, click here.