The first step is to
answer the following question:
Was this bad decision
a morally bad decision (right vs. wrong), or was it just a stupid bad decision?
The way you deal with the bad decision will vary depending on your answer to
that important question.
How to Fix a
Morally-Bad Decision
1) Confess
it to God.
The first step to fixing
a sinful mistake is to confess it directly to God. By “confess,” I mean that
you should agee with God about how bad it was and ask Him to forgive you for
what you did. Amazingly, once we confess our sins to God, He will cast them as
far as the east is from the west, and He will remember them no more.
2) Stop
doing that bad thing.
It’s one thing to confess
your sin, and it is another thing to forsake your sin. You must do everything
you can to turn away from that sin. This begins with an utter commitment to do
whatever it takes to change.
3) Wrap
your head around everything God has said about that issue in the Scriptures.
It is absolutely
essential that you learn everything you can about what God has to say about
that sinful mistake you have made. When you learn His thoughts, you will begin
to pave a path away from that sin and toward restoration. But you just can’t
wing it. You must study the Scriptures to know God’s heart on that issue.
4) Ask for
forgiveness from any who were hurt because of your bad decision.
When we sin, we often
hurt others. Sometimes we don’t even realize how badly we’ve hurt others while
we are in the midst of the sin. So, take time to look around and take an honest
look at what harm you may have caused others. Then, go to those you have hurt
and apologize and do whatever you can to fix that hurt. You may not be able to
fix it completely, and they may not even forgive you. But you need to do all
that is within your power to make it right.
5) Set up
guardrails in your life that will help you keep from doing that again.
We all have sinful
desires, and so we must establish guardrails that will keep us from careening
off the road spiritually and wiping out in sin. If you struggle with Internet
sin, then enlist an accountability partner who can monitor your online
activity. If you struggle with anger, then enlist an accountability partner (a
godly friend) who will lean into you to help you do right and correct you when
you do wrong. Set up boundaries that will make it impossible for you to do that
wrong thing even if you wanted to do that.
6) Seek
godly counsel for solutions in getting back on track.
We all need people to
speak into our lives to give us a fresh perspective on how to fix our problems.
None of us can solve all of our own problems alone. When you find godly
advisors who can help to guide you, you will be amazed at how great of ideas
they can come up with at times that will help you to find victory. They will
see things that you cannot see yourself. It’s sort of like you’re walking
around with a “kick-me” sign on your back. Others can see it, but you cannot. A
godly counselor can help to remove it from your back.
7)
Surround yourself with a godly support system that will help you to do right.
In addition to one or
two close advisors, you need a whole network of Christian friends who can help
you to do right in your life. And the best places to find these close friends
will be at church, small group Bible studies, and when you get involved in
ministry. These relationships will make a huge difference in strengthening you
and helping you to stay on the right path.
8) Make a
long-term commitment to change.
To change, you must be
committed to the long term. Plenty of people get into trouble in their lives
and show up at church to find a “quick fix.” But then you often see those
people fade away after just a few weeks or months. They return to the same old
paths of sin that got them into trouble in the first place. So, up front, you
must understand that this is a long-term commitment, and you must be committed
to changing over the long haul. The Christian life is not a sprint; it is a
marathon.
But what if the bad
decision you made was not necessarily sinful, but it was just stupid?
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