Perhaps many things don’t matter in the long run and it’s okay to just go with the flow. But we should not merely slide into the important matters of life. These deserve our intentional focus and clear decision.
To be sure, what we have for dinner, watch on television, or even where we go on vacation might not matter much in the grand scheme of things. As such, we might find ourselves simply going along with the desires of others. This is not being passive or disengaged, but it is discerning when to yield to the desires of others. We don’t have to push our agenda in every situation.
At the same time, we must not take such a casual approach with the weightier matters of life. Who to marry, having kids, where to live, the jobs we pursue, and the like all deserve to be approached with a decisive spirit.
For instance, much frustration is on the horizon for one who perpetually dates and then eventually gets married just because they’ve been together for so long. Marriage is a sacred union that warrants our intentional decision to enter into. And, as a decision, it means we’ve counted the cost and we’re now willing to give up our state of singleness to enter the state of marriage.
This is the heart of being decisive – a willingness to wholeheartedly commit to one path by evidence of cutting another one off. And it’s often a mark of immaturity, laziness, or outright cowardliness when we try to keep our options open and just go with the flow on important issues of life.
Whether at home, work, or the public square, it takes a decisive spirit to bring more life and goodness into the world. We remain ineffective, and the world a bit darker, when we lack the courage to make meaningful decisions.
In the end, everything is not worth fighting for. But don’t let doubt and uncertainty grow because of your lack of decisiveness. This is not love.
Photo by Zoran Borojevic on Unsplash
