Choices and Consequences - Martin Wiles

Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. Galatians 6:7 NKJV

When her skin turned yellow, her husband wasn’t surprised.

Cattie seemed to have it all. She married a preacher and planned to fulfill all the wonderful roles that accompanied being a preacher’s wife. For a while, things went as planned. Her husband pastored a church in the low country of South Carolina. The next six years passed quickly. Then one Sunday, strangers visited the church. The next thing Cattie knew she was packing for a move to the upstate of South Carolina.

Over the next five years, Cattie tired of being a preachers’ wife and convinced herself she had never wanted to be one in the first place. She found a job in town and began hanging around with people who didn’t share her faith or her lifestyle.

Cattie’s downward spiral began innocently enough: smoking. Then she began drinking and even buying alcohol for some of the teenagers in the church. She changed her style of dress, wearing low-cut blouses and short skirts. When she filled in at stores in neighboring towns, she wouldn’t come home at night but stayed in sleazy motels.

Cattie’s husband became suspicious. Eventually, the proof of her bad habits surfaced. She admitted her addictions. Little did he know she was also dabbling in drugs and sleeping around with truck drivers and the chairman of deacons at the church he pastored.

Cattie’s husband wasn’t surprised when one day she said, “I don’t love you anymore. I want a divorce.” Nor was he surprised when she showed up to get the kids one day and was yellow all over. Her sexual escapades had rewarded her with hepatitis.

Paul states a simple but always-true truth: choices result in consequences. What we sow, we reap.

My choices never affect only me. They affect others, as Cattie’s did her husband and children. They affect my relationships with others and my relationship with God. Consequences can’t be avoided. What we sow, we reap. Later, and often to a greater degree than what we originally sowed.

God is always willing to forgive our sins, but He normally doesn’t take away the consequences. They are His reminders not to repeat our bad or unwise behavior. They also help us learn valuable lessons if we try.

Ask God to help you make good choices so you can experience healthy consequences that will help you fulfill His plan for your life.

Prayer: Father, help us monitor our behavior so we can experience Your best for us.

Tweetable: Are you making good choices?

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