Choice and Choices
“The problem of pain, of war and the horror of war, of poverty and disease is always confronting us. But a God who allows no pain, no grief, also allows no choice. There is little unfairness in a colony of ants, but there is also little freedom. We human beings have been given the terrible gift of free will, and this ability to make choices, to help write our own story, is what makes us human, even when we make the wrong choices, abusing our freedom and the freedom of others.” (Madeleine L'Engle)
“We have no life of our own; our life has been given to us as a gift... As individuals, however, we have been given free will to choose. If we had no free will, we would be like animals and we would not have to answer for our actions. We must live the way God intended us to, having given us the gift of free will.” (Elder Thaddeus of Vitovnica)
“We Christians, like Israel of old, are the people of God. We too need to embrace Moses’ warning and decide that we shall never stand apart from God in any manner. Each day through countless choices – from the grandest options to the seemingly small, insignificant decisions of life – we face that same eternal, precipitous watershed. We either “enter into the covenant of the Lord” (Deuteronomy 29:11) that we pledged in Christ or “go in the wanderings” of our hearts (vs. 18). These alternatives are constantly before us. We commit to God or else we “hear the words of this curse and flatter” ourselves into perdition (vs. 18).” (Dynamis 7/17/2019)
“What we do now matters. If we want to combat the culture of death we live in, then we must love as Christ loves in our daily small choices, and this is what combats the culture of death to bring life to the world, to bring Christ to the world through exemplifying Him due to our union with Him.” (Sacramental Living Ministries)
“Free will is the power of a deiform soul to direct itself by deliberate choice toward whatever it decides. Let us make sure that our soul directs itself deliberately only towards what is good, so that we always consume our rememberance of evil with good thoughts.” (St. Diadochos of Photiki)
“It is not enough just to make good choices, though good choices are very important. Making good choices by our own will has value, but if we are not anchored in God we are relying solely on our own ability to choose rightly. Since our ability to choose rightly all of the time is the very thing that has been damaged through sin, we are continually putting ourselves at risk if we are not in union with God. What is critically important is that we make the choice for God before all other choices, and seek Him with all our heart, mind, body, and soul. We need to do this in a spirit of thankfulness, humility, and repentance. This single choice will be the progenitor of the good choices in our lives. Though we will still make poor choices in life, because we are in union with Him the Holy Spirit will guide us back to the right choices we should make.” (Sacramental Living Ministries)
“God gives us choices. Choose good or evil! Choose life or death! Choose blessings or curses! Your choice!...We make choices and we have to live with the consequences of those choices. We might miss what’s really most important because we choose something of lesser value.” (Father John Zeyack)
“Everyone…has to make the ultimate choice in life. What is your top priority? What is your ultimate good which every other activity and pursuit directly or indirectly promotes? "There is need of one thing." What is that one thing in your life, friend? Have you made the choice? What has first place in your life? Money, material gain? Career, social prestige? Power? God who made us out of His infinite love and Who continues to love us wants us to make the right choice, because "there is need for one thing." God created us with that need. Unless we satisfy that need, we will end up with a void on the inside of us, and ultimate frustration.” (Father Eusebius Stephanou)
“Following God is always the best choice. It is the safest choice, although it feels anything but safe in the chaos of change.” (Mary Ann Froehlich)
“Every choice we make impacts our own existence. As members of Christ’s holy Church, our decisions also affect the other members of Christ’s Body, past, present, and future – “those with us here today before the Lord your God, as well as with those not with us here today” (Deuteronomy 29:4). Our brothers and sisters grow as we submit to God’s will and “enter into the covenant of the Lord” (Deuteronomy 29:12).” (Dynamis 7/17/2019)