Decision making begins with a willingness to submit your intentions to God's perfect will and humbly follow His direction and understanding the impact of consequences in your decision making! The daily decisions that you make today will determine what kind of impact you will make tomorrow. The key to making better decisions is to educate yourself, make adjustments necessary, let your decisions be based on a solid foundation and take proper precaution. This book can help you understand decision making process and help you develop in moving forward in your journey of life and also makes the principles in the Bible relevant to everyday living.
Managing Decision Making by Applying Biblical Perspective
By Damian IwualaAuthorHouse
Copyright © 2010 Dr. Damian Iwuala
All right reserved.ISBN: 978-1-4520-4034-9 Contents
Introduction.........................................................................ixPart 1: The Impact of Decision Making................................................1Part 2: Nature of God................................................................19Part. 3: A Closer Walk with God......................................................35Part 4: Freedom from Fear............................................................49Part 5: Personal Accountability and Discipline.......................................65Part 6: A Whole New Mind.............................................................79Part 7: Living a Life of Balance.....................................................99Epilogue.............................................................................115Bibliography.........................................................................119About the Author.....................................................................121
Chapter One
Part 1: The Impact of Decision Making
Decision Making in Our Life
Decision making begins with a willingness to submit your intentions to God's perfect will and humbly follow His direction.
Everyday we are faced with all sorts of issues, choices, and decisions that affect our lives. Making decisions means making a judgment between two or more alternatives. Making decisions is not always easy, and different decisions have different impacts in our lives. All of us have made bad decisions at some point in our life. It is the decisions we made that have brought us to where we stand today.
We are generally driven by our likes and dislikes. We are always resistant to change and rarely monitor the impact of our decisions. We need to challenge the way in which we make decisions. The following raise questions on the impact of decision making:
1. How do you make decisions in your life? 2. Do you make decisions based on fear, anger, negative emotion, self-pity? 3. Is your decision something that you can take before God and ask Him to bless? 4. Is your decision something that can bring glory and honor to God?
To make right decision you have to feel good and have good self-esteem. We should implement an effective decision-making process instead of relying of feeling or intuition. Develop a good, constructive mind set and strategies that will enable you to see your situation from other perspectives and that will help to clearly understand the impact of any negative emotions. Emotions play an important role in the lives of humans, and influence our behavior, thoughts, decisions and interactions. The ability to regulate emotions is essential to both mental and physical well-being.
Our mind requires stimulation, and decisions keep the mind active and alert. Our ability to make decisions will be strongly affected by the person we learned that ability from. If our parents lacked good decision-making skills, it puts us at a disadvantage. Our ability to make good decisions will put you on the right track and will generate higher levels of fulfillment and success in life. The act of making constructive decisions and doing positive things for ourselves makes us feel good about ourselves.
A decision is something that you have the capability of changing and then understanding the impact of your decision's consequences. It does not take much strength to decide what to do, but it does require great strength to act on your decisions. Successful decision making is an interactive process and is at the heart of life. It is important to determine and identify your values, which will help you to set goals that reflect your priorities in life.
The decision-making process is centered on core communication processes involved in creating shared meaning. Every day we are confronted with making decisions about everything. The fact is that one of the major activities in life is that we are constantly making decisions, but we tend not to consider the process, rather just the result of the action. Some decisions we make are by our own choosing, but many other decisions are forced upon us.
The decision-making process includes:
1. Recognizing that a decision is necessary 2. Identify the set of feasible alternatives 3. Choosing the best alternatives 4. Recognizing consequences 5. Putting a decision into practice
Understanding the decision-making process will help you in your decisions, and it will have a huge impact on your life. In the decision-making process, be aware of your surroundings, process feedback from your environment, make adjustments necessary, and let your decisions be based on a solid foundation. Good and bad decisions in life help to mold and shape our future. It is important that you equip yourself and understand the implication of the decision you are making. Take proper precautions in decision making by considering the various options and potential consequences. When tackling any problem, research it thoroughly, get all the facts and take time to introspect. Clarify your important decisions and ask yourself on what basis did you arrive at these conclusions? Make decisions with a sense of responsibility.
Decision making is part of the responsibilities that we face in life. As you make good decisions, it relieves you from many responsibilities and problems in life, and wrong decisions only compound your problems. Many decisions we make are mental conclusions based on experience and knowledge as well as the nature of our attitude. Having clearer thinking about decision making will yield profound benefits to you. Make the decision concrete by reanalyzing over what you have decided. The higher we climb or advance on the ladder of life the more critical our decisions become, because they affect others. The decisions you make are directed toward your own happiness, and when you are surrounded by people who rely on you, every decision you make affects them as well. The problem is that too many people don't know what they want. The result is indecision. To enable yourself to make better decisions with a sense of responsibility, you must have a clear image in your mind of what you want. Visualization is the first step to bringing a dream to life. If you can see your goal in your mind, see yourself happy, successful, loving life and healthy, you can make it a reality. The key to changing your belief system is changing your thoughts.
Some people are in the habit of making poor decisions, and one bad decision leads to another due to their habit pattern. The best way to break a habit pattern is to first recognize that there is particular habit pattern we have and then earnestly desire to change it. Too often, we pay more attention to advancing our knowledge of other skills without realizing the importance and complexity of decision making. The key to making better decisions is to educate yourself and make an effort to learn as much as you can about the issue. By doing this, you will find the power within yourself to be decisive. You are the architect and building contractor of your future. Learn how to apply the discipline of kingdom living mind set and improve your decision making confidence to ensure the positive consequences out weigh the negative ones. Without constructive and effective decision-making skills and strategies, you will not fulfill your God-given potential in life.
You are the result of your decisions! The state of your life and your inner happiness are the reflection of your decisions. The decisions that have the greatest effect on our lives are usually the hardest to make. Take time and give careful consideration to all the decisions you make, because the consequences of most decisions are permanent. Whenever confronted by a decision, try to relax and not feel pressured into deciding at that moment; take the time to work out a solid answer by asking God to guide and direct your decision. The most important thing to remember when faced with an important decision is to determine how the choice will impact your life, the lives of others, and what type of impact the decision will have on the people involved-then respond accordingly.
Decision Making According To God's Will
Decision making is the process of developing, analyzing, and choosing one alternative from among several possible choices. Most decisions are made in response to a problem (a discrepancy between a desirable and actual decision) and involve judgment-the cognitive aspects of the decision-making process. Decisions are made to bring about desired outcomes. Decision making, also referred to as problem solving, is the process of recognizing an opportunity or problem and finding a solution.
Throughout our lives we are faced with choices we must make: where to live, who to marry, where to work, how to spend money. Life is filled with decision making, and some are difficult, some easy. Making effective and sound decisions is an art that is learned through life experience. We learn how to make decisions when we are young child, although we did not always realize that we were being taught to make decisions. As we grow older, we feel that the number of decisions that we need to make seems to be increasing day by day. Decisions become more complex and the ramifications of our decisions are more significant. We have to understand that our instruction is contained in God's word, and that as we apply His principles, we find ourselves making wise decisions and judgments in all areas of life.
How can we make decisions that are most glorifying to God and resulting in His richest blessing of our lives? The following guideline can help you in your decision-making process.
1. Examine and follow God's word 2. Recognize God in establishing priorities 3. Seek wise counsel and advice
4. Evaluate the choices you make with prayer 5. Wait on the Lord to reveal His will 6. Decision making should be made with confidence and by faith
When you surrender your decision-making process to God, you do what you can do and what you know to be correct and right decision; God will guide and direct you in your decision-making process. God is not the author of confusion and complexity, but of simplicity and clarity. He does not make things hard, He makes things easy. The key to godly decision making is knowing God's will. He gives us free will, but we have to know His will.
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths" (Prov. 3:5-6).
Decision making is a process that takes time-you have to resubmit your will over and over again to God throughout the process. Then by faith, which pleases God, trust Him with a confident heart that He will reveal His will. God tells us that if we put our trust totally in Him, He will help us with our decision making and guide and direct us on the right paths.
Decision making typically follows a seven step process:
1. Define the problem or opportunity 2. Identify many alternative solutions to the problem 3. Evaluate alternatives to decide which is best 4. Make a decision based on the best alternative that defines the problem's solution 5. Implement the best alternative by communicating the reasons for the decision 6. Evaluate the decision to fix the problem 7. Follow up to make sure that decisions are executed successfully
When you are faced with decision making, realize that God is directing your life and you will find the confidence to believe that things will work out for the best. Take action and trust God to direct the outcome. As Christians, we must differentiate and discern between scriptural truths and worldly beliefs. The Bible should be the primary source of our beliefs and actions-it provides direction, guidance, and helps us to holy living. Within the boundaries we live in relationship with God, He will help shape our decision-making process. How we handle things and also how we relate to people or situations should reflect our commitment to Christ and should reflect who we are as Christians. Biblical decision making begins with a willingness to submit your intentions to God and humbly follow His direction and guidance. The Scriptures are our instruction from God on proper behavior in every area of our lives. The will of God is knowable and profitable for general Christian living and when facing specific decision points in life. "Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him" (2 Cor. 5:9).
Before making a decision, ask yourself, "will this decision be pleasing to God?" Everyone wants to make decisions that will turn out to be the right decisions, but realize that the decisions we make will also turn around and make us. "For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that you may have a walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God" (Col. 1:9-10). As Christians, the principal task in our decision making is to learn the purpose of God for our lives and apply it according to God's plan. "Know His will, and approve the things that are excellent, being instructed out of the law" (Rom. 2:18). If we study the Scripture, we know what is right and wrong, and we understand God's moral principles, then why are we in disobedience to God?
His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue. We also have the prophetic word made more sure, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts; knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. (2 Pet. 1:3, 19-21)
The purpose of God's word is to teach us how to walk and make decisions base on biblical principles. God is a gracious God who has provided everything we need in order to do what He wants us to do. When we have the heart of Christ, the world will recognize it. When you have arrived at your decision with the sincere intention of pleasing the heart of God, and by applying biblical principles and using wise counsel, you can then proceed with confidence, knowing that God will work out His purposes and change your circumstances through your decision. The Bible must be the standard that we must live by.
Life Management
Management is the process of accomplishing God's plans and purposes through the proper use of human, material, and spiritual resources. Management involves basic activity planning, decision making, leading, organizing, and controlling. Management is evaluated by whether or not these plans and purposes are accomplished.
Managers are responsible for something entrusted to them by someone else. Every believer is the manager of spiritual resources with which God has entrusted us. In the hustle and bustle of daily life, it can be quite easy to lose perspective on life and how best to manage it. We are a planet with millions and millions of people wandering in confusion, asking the question of questions: "What should I be doing?"
The Israelites spent forty years wandering around the wilderness and circling the same desert mountain again and again. It was a mere eleven day journey, so why did it take them this length of time to get to their destination? God has given us the means and the opportunities needed to reach our full potential. Whether you reach your full potential or not will be based on how you manage what you have been given. A lot of people are living disorganized lives and failing to know what they are supposed to be doing with their lives. We all need the management of our life that only God can provide. Without God's management, our lives will be full of confusion, conflict, contradiction, and chaos. Good management helps us to manage spiritual resources properly and enables us to be prosperous and hold accountability for the work of God's kingdom. Implementing and knowing God's plan for our life releases anxiety, and brings peace of mind, joy, and freedom. No matter what challenges we face, if we know and apply God's plan, we can have peace in the midst of our greatest trials. "For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace" (Rom. 8:5-6).
We must make a choice every day of our life, with every circumstance we face, and we must make a choice as to which controlling disposition we will yield; this is dependent on each individual. Are you walking according to the flesh, or according to the Holy Spirit of God, which is centered on the life of Jesus Christ? Take time to reflect on the decisions you are making, and reap what you sow.
The five gifts that God has given us are:
1. Time. Time is nothing more than the occurrence of events in sequence, one after another. Investing our time wisely is very important because if we lose it, we will not get it back. Every day, we get 1,440 minutes per day, and if we sleep for 420 minutes (seven hours), that will leave us with 1,020 minutes. We have twenty-four hours in every day, and 168 hours in every week. Review the way in which you spend your time, evaluate your schedule, and compare what you have done with what you are planning to do. The only way we make up our time is by managing it better. Time management is about taking action. "Redeeming the time, because the days are evil" (Eph. 5:16). We should make the most of the time that God has given to us and take responsibility of that time to the best of our ability. God provided the ultimate example of effective time management and order. What we do with those twenty-four hours determines what we accomplish in our lifetime. If we don't manage our time right, someone else will. Our time must be given back to God.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from Managing Decision Making by Applying Biblical Perspectiveby Damian Iwuala Copyright © 2010 by Dr. Damian Iwuala. Excerpted by permission.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.
