Henry Cloud & John Townsend - Life Journeyنموونە

The Giver of Choices

God provides for us a structure for love and responsibility. He says that we all belong to him. He is our God and he loves us. In that state of belonging, there are responsibilities and rules. Ezekiel 18:4 says that we are accountable for our own lives; it is our choice how we decide to live them. Sin will lead to death, as it is the path away from God. So as people who are encircled in his love, we are to determine and own our responsibilities. God cares deeply for us, but he also wants us to take responsibility for our lives and our actions.

God also respects our no. He doesn’t nag us or try to control us. He allows us to say no and go our way. Think of the parable of the prodigal son (see Luke 15:11–32) and the story of the rich young man (see Matthew 19:16–22), and remember Joshua’s challenge to the Israelites near the end of his life: “If serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve … But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD” (Joshua 24:15). In all of these examples, God gives a choice and allows the people involved to make up their minds.

When people say no, he allows it and keeps on loving them. God is a giver. And one of the things he always gives is a choice. But like a real giver, he also gives the consequences of those choices. He respects boundaries because he created boundaries in the first place.