Checkpoints: Wise Choices

by Desi Ash

Right before my freshman year of high school I made a promise to myself. The promise was that I wasn’t going to drink alcohol until I was 21 and I wasn’t going to have sex until after I was 19. I partly made this promise because I didn’t want to repeat the cycle of my biological mother, who gave birth to me, her second child, at the age of nineteen. While I didn’t fully understand what this promise would keep me from doing, I knew that it would set me up for a good future.

This promise made me very cautious of not only my friends but my surroundings. I didn’t go to parties and I barely dated anyone because I didn’t want to be put in the situation where I could have broken my promise.

I wasn’t forced to make this promise and honestly, it’s a promise I hardly ever talk about it. Looking back, this promise was a wise choice that I made that helped set me up for success.

Our next checkpoint, key ideas we see as essential to the spiritual foundation for every child, is Wise Choices.

Wisdom comes from experience- time and maturity, something that kids don’t have through childhood. Many time kids don’t want to ask you for advice because they think adults just don’t understand. What they don’t know is that adults have lived through very similar situations.

You can help open up the dialogue with your kids by being open and sharing your own experiences. Why do you know that being alone with the opposite sex isn’t the best idea or the way your friends influenced you.

Isn’t of trying to answer the question of “how far is too far” (not just when it comes to sex), how about rewiring your kids to ask “is this the wise thing to do?”

Paul says in Ephesians 5:15-17:

Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.

We believe that it is crucial to help your child discover the ability to make wise choices.  It is vital to teach them how to navigate their culture and their world – which will always be full of difficult decisions. We need to help our kids understand the trouble that is out there before it crosses their path so they won’t question what is right or wrong, but they will know the wise thing to do.

Remember that making wise choices throughout childhood can be a huge struggle because there are times when the wise choice means you miss out on fun. What God has in store for the next generation is far better and more fun than any party or bad decision they could make now.