Changing The Consequences

In a brief conversation with a friend recently, i expressed my concern over someone i care about deeply. This person, i said, is basically a very depressed individual. But there is a good reason why she is depressed... one over which that she actually has some control. She keeps making bad decisions (the definition of which is decisions that have consequences that ultimately are "unhealthy" for her and for others) yet attempts to either make excuses or manipulate the circumstances so that the consequences will be more to her liking. Of course, she ends up frustrated and angry often turning those emotions inward with no resolution because the consequences are no better and maybe even worse than before.

It seems to me that this is one of the key issues for every human being. If you don't like the consequences to your choices, the thing to do is to make different choies.

Part of the definition of "growing up" is learning that there are consequences to the way you behave and that you then choose your behavior based on the desired consequences. In other words a person must learn to think of the end in order to begin.

The key to all this is faith! But real faith is not really blind. Real faith is based on real evidence that leads to realistic conclusions despite what may or may not seem "obvious" at the moment. Real faith takes into consideration those things that are real although they are unseen. Real faith considers the eternal. Real faith considers the divine. Blind faith is blind to those things.

One famous, anonymous writer wrote: "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." In this case, "hope" is not about deep desire but about real expectation. I can jump off the roof of my house and desire to float safely to the ground... but that's not what i expect. There are sound reasons for the expectation. There are not sound reasons to expect my desire.

The objective in all this is to have realistic expectations, information that goes beyond my experience and the sensual knowledge available to me. There is information needed that must come from outside myself and there must be reason to believe that information is reliable. In other words, if i want to make choices that are consistent with the consequences i prefer, then i must have Truth. It is in making choices according to Truth that we are able to live lives that are truly good even if they are incredibly hard lives. There must be a way to find and live that Truth.

Jesus Christ said, "I am the way, the truth and the life..." Only by faith in Christ can we make the decisions that choose our behavior that lead to the consequences we long for.