C. S. Lewis wrote: “Good and evil both increase at compound interest. That is why the little decisions you and I make every day are of such infinite importance.”
Decisions.
I’ve met and worked with many highly successful men. One thing they all share is: they are decisive.
I often teach men, “decide against yourself.” We are all master negotiators. One day, we make a decision to work out or study God’s Word. The next morning we wake up and, before we’ve finished a cup of coffee, we’ve negotiated out of it, and decide to start the following day instead. And the next morning…..
In the devotional, A Man’s Guide to the Maximized Life, my dad Ed Cole encouraged men to make good decisions and wrote a strong case about forgiving ourselves for bad ones. Read it below.
The book is on sale for Father’s Day. Alone, in a gift pack, or at a discount to give one to every father you know. I think you’ll want a copy.
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Nations, businesses, and families all need decision-makers. Decisions are not always right, but they are always decisions. Even no decision is a decision by default.
Indecisiveness creates instability. Scripture states that the double-minded man is “unstable in all his ways” (James 1:8).
A friend once said, “The man who straddles the fence gets hurt when he falls.” It’s dangerous.
Decision‑making is one of the marks of a man.
Women desire men who make decisions. As leaders, not dictators. Dictators decide from personal preference or selfish gratification. Leaders decide on what is best for others.
If a decision is made and it proves to be faulty, admit it, repent of it, learn from it. God forgives faulty decisions. We must go on from that point.
If God forgives us, but we don’t forgive ourselves, we make ourselves greater than God. Wisely forgetting the past is part of a man’s maturing. It is essential to real manhood. Crying over spilled milk, living with regret, carrying past mistakes—are all wrong. Living with mistakes is a mistake in itself.
A friend’s father’s advice was, “If you’re going to start, don’t stop. And if you’re going to stop, don’t start.” Learning accountability made my friend a success.
Mediocre men want authority but not accountability. They don’t want to be responsible for decisions they make and resent those who hold them accountable.
They want the freedom to choose, but not the consequences of their choices.
God never gives authority without accountability.
The essence of maturity is the acceptance of responsibility. And maturity is the essence of manhood.
Decisions determine conduct, character, and destiny.
The discipline of daily devotion to God undergirds successful decisions. The more of God’s Word you have in you, the better foundation for making the right decisions.
Men who make disciplined decisions one after another—abiding in the Word, doing God’s will—build within themselves a deeply-rooted, godly character that overcomes outward circumstances and devilish spirits.We call such people “men of conviction.”
Decisions are rooted in the character of such men. Decision-making. The mark of a real man.
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Start small. As C. S. Lewis said, make the “little” decisions. They add up to big ones.
And base those little decisions on God’s Word.
Grace and Peace,
Paul Louis Cole
