The Effect of Our Choices
In 1 Thessalonians 5:23, Paul speaks of humans consisting of spirit, soul, and body. When we consider the choices we make, especially big ones, it is often clear how that choice will affect us physically. Perhaps we will go into one career path or another and that choice we make will affect where and how we live. But how do these choices affect our spirits and souls?
Every choice we make affects our personality and who we are becoming as a person. When we make kind or unkind decisions consistently, we eventually become kind or unkind. But the effect our choices have on us goes even deeper than this. In his widely acclaimed book Mere Christianity C.S. Lewis said, “Every time you make a choice you are turning the central part of you, the part of you that chooses, into something a little different from what it was before. And taking your life as a whole, with all your innumerable choices, all your life long you are slowly turning this central thing into a heavenly creature or into a hellish creature.”1 This reality is of vital importance.
Some Christians believe that there is only one choice that affects their soul: whether or not they choose to believe in Jesus. While this choice is of the utmost importance, it is not the only choice that matters. The choice to follow Jesus’ footsteps daily is what being a Christian is all about because emulating him is what helps us become more like him. Even little decisions matter: choosing not to tell a ‘white lie,’ choosing not to act in anger, choosing not to gossip, choosing humility over pride, etc.
Choosing to Walk in Jesus’ Footsteps
This motif of choices, including for our soul, is captured well in the film Wicked. Elphaba encounters people who focus on being “Popular” and others who focus on “Dancing Through Life” (having fun and enjoying life with no thought beyond themselves). Still others focus on gaining more power or doing whatever it takes to get what they want. All of these choices have a profound influence on the soul and none of these can be the long-term trajectory for a Christian.
But what does God tell us is most important in life? In Matthew 22:36, someone asks Jesus what the most important commandment is. Jesus’s answer is, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind” (Matthew 22:37).
One of the reasons Jesus commands this is because whatever we love most in our lives we mirror (see Psalm 115:4-8). God wants us to follow his Son’s example, because Jesus shows us how to be truly human. As we follow and become more like Christ, we become more human—the very thing God made us to be in the beginning (Genesis 1:26-27). Jesus is not only our Great Physician who heals our sins, he is also the Pioneer of our faith (Hebrews 12:2, NIV), showing us how to love God more fully.
Most of us will make millions, if not billions, of decisions in our lives which can become overwhelming. What about all the countless wrong choices we are bound to make? Does that mean we aren’t real Christians or that we are bad people? Knowing how we think, God reminds us in Acts 4:27-28 that we can trust that God utilizes everything that happens, even the evil acts of those who killed his only son. God also redeemed Peter to be the leader of the disciples even after he had denied Jesus three times.
It is important to remember that our answer to falling down should be getting back up. We choose to try again.2 And in choosing to try again, we turn the central part of ourselves towards being a heavenly creature more like Jesus than the moment before.
“Don’t Lose Sight of Who You Are”
In the song “I’m Not That Girl,” Elphaba laments that she isn’t the kind of person her beloved could fall in love with. She believes that it is her fault that her mother died and her sister is disabled. She sees her green skin and feels that no one could love her because of her flaws. But the reality is that she isn’t just her [perceived] flaws.
She sings “don’t lose sight of who you are” during this song but, ironically, it shows that she has lost sight of who she is. She sees herself through the lies, blame, and fear of others. By the end of the movie, the reason she is able to choose the truly good path is because of all the small choices that have made her who she really is. In “Defying Gravity,” she sings, “Something has changed within me…” realizing that she’s done with making her choices because of lies and fear. She finally begins seeing herself as she truly is and wants all of her future decisions to align with that.
As Christians, we can often believe the lie that we are less than the very children of God. Though most of us don’t realize it, we can often believe that we are merely his employees who maintain his love by being ‘good enough.’ But that is losing sight of who we are. We don’t need to earn or maintain God’s love because he is a good Father who loves us unconditionally. All that remains for us is to see who we truly are and align our choices with that.