Bad Decisions. This could have been the name of the Lifetime Movie about my teens and early twenties.

I was not a wise girl.

Ten years later,  the bad choices are fewer and farther between and I am grateful. However,  they still happen, and now that I have wisdom,  experience,  and Jesus, they feel a lot more deliberate and a lot less like mistakes. 

Just last night, I chose to eat a whole mess of fried food: mozzarella sticks, fried pickles, nachos, and one chicken wing ( I’m still trying to be a vegetarian but bowling alley food is probably organic, right?). I also spent 17 dollars on two drinks I didn’t need under the justification that I never get to do Happy Hour.  *Dave Ramsey sheds a tear.*

Guess who’s up now with an unhappy tummy and a sugar high and heartburn? Yep. Me and Kanye.

This small bad decision has me truly regretting my earlier “devil-may-care” attitude. On a much larger scale, I am presented daily with real temptation. It pulls me gently but persistently,  whispering that it will be worth it. With wisdom,  experience and Jesus, I know it’s a set-up. I know it’ll hurt. I should just not go there. But still..

I give it more thought than I should.

Satan would love nothing more than to get me caught up in a(nother) detour and lure me farther and farther away from the truth. From such a distance, the truth will appear blurry and distorted.

Eventually,  when I find my resolve and my way back, there will still be months of pain, regret, and shame.

No, thank you.

I cannot be passive about my heart,  my character,  or my future.

I have to fight. If God is for me, who can be against me?  I am weak but He is strong.  Nice try, Anthony Hole (don’t ask).

I have to fight.

1 Corinthians 10:13
No temptation had seized you except that which is common to man. And God is faithful, he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.

I know I am not alone in this. There is something that whispers to you, too. It wants to destroy you. Fight. Pray and fight. You are worth it.

Boxing gloves on.

Ang