Unwise Choices

I just read a Facebook post that left me wondering why we don’t each mature at a certain age rather than from personal experiences and development through accountability for our choices. The words I read to me came from a broken place that needs the healing power of God. I’m writing this blog in four parts and in each part, we will look at the power of free will. Free will is nothing more than a person’s ability to decide. Let’s not downplay the power of choices or the consequences/ rewards thereof as they can be life altering.

Three young girls party together. They hang out with their naive young friends and think they know it all. Life must teach them to understand what their parents are telling them as most of them think their parents are old, lack understanding and would dare say they don’t know how to have fun. Girl one has a child at seventeen and her second at eighteen. Girl two has her first child at twenty-five and her second at twenty-seven. Girl three has her first child at twenty and has a total of seven children. Girl one has two baby daddies, girl two has one and girl three has three. One day girl one and two were hanging out some years later. Girl two expresses to girl one her feelings about girl three and her choice of baby daddies while at the same time almost bragging about her choice to wait longer before having children and the fact that she only has one baby daddy. God shows girl one the power of a choice in this conversation. Here’s how that went.

Girl three chose on three different occasions three men that were responsible enough to take care of the seed they produced with her. They were part of their child’s life and provided financially for their child without force. Girl three works very hard and provides greatly for her children. Doing her best to raise them in the ways of God. Girl two chose one guy to have children with. This baby daddy was there but not there. He provided but not what was needed. Girl two works very hard at providing what she believes to be important to her children. She has an attitude toward them because their daddy isn’t the man, she believed him to be. Girl one chose two men that did not provide for their seed and endured great hardships as she raised her seed alone. She did all she could and raised them in the house of God.

Through girl twos disappointment and jealous heart, she spoke poorly of girl three because she made a better choice. To make herself feel better she insulted and belittled girl one. Pretending that her decision to have one baby daddy was better then girl one’s decision to have two baby daddies. The truth is she was hurting. She thought so highly of herself and her ability to make wiser choices then the other two girls and was devastated with the consequences of her choices. The frustration grew and came out of her mouth because she realized that she wasn’t as smart as she thought she was. She didn’t know enough to have children with a man that would care for them or that she could get child support from and she wasn’t as strong or content as the other girl. This frustration came about because girl two compared herself to other people instead of focusing on her own race. I believe many of us can relate.

Each girl was a single mom because of decisions they made and consequences that arrived from those decisions. Each one had different levels of responsibilities to bear as a result of those consequences. Each girl should hold themselves accountable realize it was their choosing and their cross to bear as a result. We don’t have pity parties about how rough it is or was to raise our children when we make poor choices as to who we have children with. We must understand the truth of making healthy decisions and instruct our youth in those ways.

Today’s scripture: Romans 12:3-5, Deuteronomy 30:19, Isaiah 61:1 and Romans 14:12-13