According to a research study at Cornell University, the average person makes more than 200 decisions each and every day. Of course, that number is based on one set of data. The actual number for a given individual could be much higher. Some estimates go into the thousands. Regardless of exact numbers, it’s safe to say that most of us make a lot of decisions each day – some big, and some small – some life changing, and some seemingly insignificant.
With so many decisions waiting to be made each day, it seems that learning to recognize a good decision when we see one is of paramount importance. How do we know when we’ve actually made a good, solid decision?
I love what Jesus said in Luke 7:35. After condemning the Pharisees and lawyers for their inaccurate assessment of His ministry and the ministry of John the Baptist, He said, “Yet wisdom is justified by her children.”
What does that mean? Simply put, it means that the consequences or results our decisions often demonstrate whether or not those decisions were truly wise. Sometimes, it is only in looking back at a decision that we can honestly discern how good of a decision it was. In the end, those who followed John the Baptist, and then Jesus, will be justified – not the Pharisees and lawyers who wrongly judged them. That is an example of the “fruit” of a decision revealing (in time) that it was the right decision.
When facing important decisions, I often look back at similar decisions from the past and try to glean wisdom from them. How did they turn out? What was their fruit? If I had it to do all over again, what would I do? How is this similar to what I’m facing now? What can I take from those past experiences and apply to my current decisions? These are great questions to ask.
Sometimes even the best of us can get caught up in making the same bad decisions over and over again. Part of breaking that cycle involves taking an honest look at the “children” produced by those decisions, and determining whether or not it is something we want to continue to reap in our lives. If a similar decision didn’t turn out well for us in the past, perhaps it is time to consider something different.
