Choices & Chains

Hey guys, I want to thank you all for having us out today. It is always an honor and privilege to be able to come out spend time with you all.

I felt led to speak to you today on choices. Does anyone have a guess on how many choices the average individual makes in a single day? Some have offered that we make roughly 100 - 150 conscience choices every day. Others have said that if you consider all of the choices that we make subconsciously, that the number would be well into the thousands.

That is a lot of choices, right? If you think about it, over the course of your lifetime, you will make millions of choices. Some of those choices will be very profound, having major, immediate implications on your life. Other choices will be viewed as trivial because they seem to have little, or no immediate impact at all. With that being said, I want to read Proverbs 3:5-6

Proverbs 3:5–6 NKJV

5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; 6 In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.

I want to try and explain to you that all choices matter....even the little ones. To do that I want to use an acronym, but I need some help. Can I have a couple of volunteers from each table, preferably one towards each end of the table to write down the words with a crayon as I call them out? Can you all do that for me? Now there will be 5 words total you will have to write, so don’t start to close to the edge of the table. You will write the words straight across like you normally would, and then each succeeding word will be written directly underneath the previous word, okay?

Now this acronym has been around a long time, and I would give the credit where it is deserved, but I don’t know where this originated. Regardless, this is what God asked me to share today, so here we go. If you’re ready, say I’m ready!!

Choice

Every choice is just that. It is a choice. It is a single moment when you have to make a decision about a single thing that is immediately in front of you or ahead of you. It is a single act. But here is the thing, when you are faced with the same set of circumstances enough times, and you make the same choice within that set of circumstances enough times, those individual choices form a habit.

Habit

A habit is formed when we do the same thing over and over. There are good habits, and there are bad habits. But all habits are the result of making the same choice so many times that we now are used to doing that thing a certain way. It is still a choice, but that choice has already been made so many times before, that we now lean that direction almost every time. A habit is not without flaw. You will do it most of the time, but there are random moments where the you will choose to do something different. But when we continue a habit long enough, it becomes automatic.

Automatic

Once something becomes automatic, it becomes our default. We have made the choice so many times to do this thing the same way, that now it’s no longer a choice. Instead of us choosing it, it’s choosing us. It becomes our automatic response. We just do it, because that’s what we do. We don’t question it anymore. We don’t ponder it anymore. We just do it. Have you ever asked someone why they do something a certain way, and they respond by saying, “I don’t know. It’s just the way I’ve always done it.” It’s automatic. But when something stays your automatic response for long enough, it moves from being your automatic response to being your identity.

Identity

Once something becomes my identity, it is no longer what I do.....it is who I am. It defines me as a person. I am no longer somehow who gets angry, I am an angry person. I am no longer someone who takes a drink, I am a drunk. See, it is my identity. It becomes who I am. Have you ever heard someone say, “I can’t help it. It’s just who I am.” They have allowed their individual choices of life to follow the same path long enough, to where it is no longer a choice, it is an identifying characteristic of their life. It’s who they are. Now it is important to note that you can be identified by some horrible things and still feel bad about it. At this point in the process, it may be what defines you, but you don’t have to feel good about it. But if you allow this identifying characteristic continue with you long enough, you will move beyond just being identified by it......it will become natural.

Natural

When something becomes natural, it means that you have allowed this thing to identify you for so long, that you no longer even feel bad about it. Have you ever met someone who can be so ugly to other people, and not even care. Have ever met someone who can be so prideful of themselves, and not even realize it. They have allowed this wrong thing to continue for so long in their life, that they no longer even see it as being wrong. It is now natural to them. They don’t even feel bad about it anymore. It just comes natural. And because it feels natural to them, they assume it should feel natural to everyone around them as well.

I want those of you who are taking notes to now start with the first letter of the first word and draw a box going straight down that boxes in all of the first letters of each word. What you see is that when choices go unchecked for long enough, they can become the chains of your life. They will hold you captive to the very things that are holding you back. It becomes a stronghold in your life. This stronghold is a mental prison that holds your thoughts captive. The worst part is, it is a prison that you built yourself and then checked yourself into. The door is standing wide open and you can walk out any time you want, but you see no need, so you just stay there.

This is where you don’t want to be. I’ve seen this too many times than I care to admit. I’ve seen it ruin lives, ruin marriages, and even bring about death.

I’m thankful this morning, that I serve a chain-breaking God. A God who can and will equip me to tear down these strongholds in my life.

2 Corinthians 10:3–5 NKJV

3 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. 4 For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, 5 casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ,

Close.....