“Great opportunities may come once in a lifetime, but small opportunities surround us every day.”                                                                                  -Rick Warren

When I was in college I was faced with some difficult decisions. I was on the fence between living for God and living the “typical” college experience. I had to choose whether I would follow my old friends or whether I would be willing to walk away from them and pursue God.

I remember telling one of my professors my predicament. He said, “Bubba, choose to do the right thing. I think if you could see the difference between where your friends will be and where you’ll be in ten years if you make the right choice, it wouldn’t be much of a choice.”

I chose to follow after God. It didn’t make much of a difference in a week, a month, or even a year. Now, years later, I have old friends coming up to me, patting me on the back, and telling me they’re proud of me and affirming that I made the right choice. The best part is I’m in a position to help them live an awesome life now!

The tough decisions you have to make now don’t always pay off in the short term. In fact, you usually pay a price for making the right choice in the short term. You’ll get ridiculed, rejected, and criticized. I know I did. However, if you’ll press through all of that, years later, you’ll be praised, congratulated, and patted on the back for making the right choice, many years ago.

Choose to do what’s right, no matter what. It always pays off, even if it’s 20 years later.

Dear brothers and sisters, if another believer is overcome by some sin, you who are godly should gently and humbly help that person back onto the right path. And be careful not to fall into the same temptation yourself.” -Galatians 6:1

I heard Erwin McManus say once that all too often we read the Bible as though we’re always the protagonist, but never the antagonist.  We’re David as he fights Goliath, but not when he committed adultery,  we’re Moses leading Israel out of Egypt, but not when he killed an Egyptian, we’re Peter when he walked on water, but not when Jesus rebuked him!

When we have this outlook in life, it’s easy to slip into a mindset of thinking we’re doing all the good we read about, and aren’t even close to doing the bad. This mindset is dangerous. It hardens our hearts to God’s correction, gets us into pride, isolate us from people, and leaves us vulnerable. We can actually get to the place where we think we’re invincible and never in danger of falling.

When we always view ourselves as the protagonist, we’ll never build the character we need to sustain what God’s called us to, and ultimately, we’ll fall.

We need to recognize that we’re all just one choice away from becoming the antagonist.

If we’re humble enough to recognize this, we’ll start to read God’s Word and other books with a whole new perspective. We’ll start to ask ourselves questions like: Why did these people make poor decisions? Am I displaying similar attitudes or making similar decisions to these men that got them into trouble? Am I actually living out the Word of God that I’m reading?

Always strive to be the protagonist, but don’t be naive enough to believe that you’re incapable of being the antagonist. Ask God for the wisdom and grace to get in the Word and evaluate where you stand on every issue, how you can improve, and what attitudes of your heart you need to change.

Thoughts?

This is going to be a new consistent blog post – Usually every week I try to grab quotes I’d like to memorize and record them on my iphone and listen to them often so I can get them in my head and heart. I’ll now also be sharing them through blog posts so I have to write them out, and as always, I hope they add value to your life!

• “There’s not lack of people that need ministered to, but there is a lack of people who have something to say when they’re ministering.” -Keith Moore

• “Character is the complete sum of all of your thoughts” -James Allen

• “If we lack faith our leadership will never have power, if we lack love, our leadership will never have purpose.” -Gerald Brooks

• “Long before people follow you, they hear about you.” -Gerald Brooks

• “When you learn a lesson, find ways to live it, or else you’ll have to relearn it.” -Gerald Brooks

• “People want to change their circumstances, but they’re unwilling to change themselves.” -John Maxwell

• “If life gives you a chance to watch, then get on the front row.” -Gerald Brooks

• “Learn when you don’t have to lead.” -Gerald Brooks

• “It’s the changed life, not the crowd that makes the difference.” -Gerald Brooks

• “Any time your stage time exceeds your prayer time, you’re in trouble as a leader.” -Gerald Brooks