Our Choices Define Us Rather Than Our Abilities

Several days ago I passed by a local middle school close to where I live when I was headed to work.  It had an inscription on the school's message board which stated "Our choices define us rather than our abilities."  How true that statement is.  That doesn't mean that our abilities or our talents are irrelevant, because they're not.  But with talents comes the responsibility of utilizing discernment.  We have the responsibility to make choices in order to use them properly.   The choices that we make in life say much about who we are.  They reveal our character.  Choices we make reveal whether we're wise or unwise.  Making choices are very crucial.  Through choices, we are making decisions that can/will affect us for the rest of our lives.  That's how serious making choices are.

Back in December 2002, I wrote an essay entitled, "Life is a Choice."  I titled it that way simply because life is all about making choices.  You will spend your whole life making choices.  Why do you think there's so much emphasis being placed upon teenagers that are approaching graduation from high school?  The reason is because they will be making choices following graduation that will affect the rest of our lives.  The first choice you'll have to make upon graduation is what choices you will make when it comes to your future vocation.  Will you attend college/vocational school, etc.?  What type of job or career are you planning on embarking upon?  What are you going to do when it comes to personal relationships?  Are you going to get married someday and to whom?  Most important, is where does the House of God rank in your life?  Are you serving Him and if not will you make that choice to dedicate your life to God and serve Him?  These are some of the choices you'll be making in life.  Making choices is something that you can't escape.

I've seen the logo "Life is a Choice" on buttons by pro-life groups.  I'll add a quick note here: The choice to create another human being is made prior to conception.  Once conception takes place, the choice has already been made.  You can't redo that when a pregnancy takes place.  When a couple make the decision to engage in sexual relations with one another, you're consenting to life if a pregnancy occurs.  This idea of choice after pregnancy is not an option in God's eyes.  Abortion is murder in God's eyes and once conception takes place, that is another human being that's created.  Nothing will change that.  I thought I would add that in to those who might believe abortion is justifiable according to situational ethics.

As I stated earlier, our abilities are important.  God endows every human with talents for the purpose to serve Him.  However, talents must be used wisely and the choices we make about how we use our talents say much about us.  It reveals our character, our judgment, and what's important in our lives.  In the basketball arena, there's always much said about our talented basketball players.  When college basketball coaches recruit players, they look for the most talented players there are.  However, there's more to great players than their abilities.  It's the choices they make while they are on the floor.  I do understand that the head coaches draw up strategies and give them instruction on how to win the game.  However, there will be moments when a basketball player needs to possess wisdom on what to do at the right moment, and many times that can be instantaneous.   The reason why LeBron James is so revered in NBA basketball, for example, is because he knows how to make the right choices at the right moment.  As talented as he is, it's his judgment on when to pass the ball, when to shoot, and to whom to pass the ball to is what defines him, not just his talent alone.  There are some players that are very talented but they don't go very far in the ranks simply because they don't make wise choices while on the floor or they don't play smart basketball.  I heard Louisville head coach Rick Pitino make the statement last year that his 2013 national championship basketball team knew how to play smart basketball.  Playing smart basketball, along with your talent level, is what wins championships.  You can't be very successful in whatever vocation or endeavor you're involved in if you don't make wise choices. 

It's our choices that define us.  Abilities are important if you're going to accomplish a task but if you don't make wise choices when it comes to using your ability, you'll be limited on how far you travel in whatever venture you're involved with.