Actions and their consequences

Lately there has been an underlying theme in my life of learning about actions and their consequences so I thought maybe God was leading me to write about it. Today the main thing is that Christopher was kicked out of school for a day because he chose to fight with a kid. The story goes like this... This kid (we'll call him Bobby) started to push Chris early in the morning and Chris continued to tell him to stop all throughout the day. This came to a climax in the parking lot after school when Chris chose to unleash the "gun-show" on Bobby and bust his mouth. Chris notably is told everyday by Richard and myself that noone has the right to harm him and he should always defend himself. Richard and I also really push for him to take every option available before hitting someone. Chris has the option of speaking with a teacher, principal, whatever before going crazy on the kid. Chris chose to allow his anger to boil over and cause a major problem..which as now led him to be kicked out of school and will affect his grades. (I also want to note that Bobby was kicked out as well..so justice was served)

Anyway, I felt like this was just another example of actions and their consequences in our lives. I see consequences for my actions every single day. Each of us choose our payoff when we make a decision in our life. I will use the example of overeating and exercising, a good action and a bad action. We'll start with the bad action in order to end on a good note. Overeating feels good at the time by allowing us to feel full, experience emotional satisfaction, and possibly to help us socialize. There is a distinct pay-off of overeating. There are also consequences from doing that. There is the sick feeling that you get after eating too much, the weight you might gain, and the damage you might do to organs depending on what you are eating.

Exercise works the opposite way. It gives us hard consequences at first like exhaustion, sore muscles, and might make us extremely hungry or thirsty. The consequences for this action are very different however...they are good consequences. They include a good euphoric feeling from the endorphins that are going through your body, a strong and fit body, and good health throughout your life. It is a harder decision to make first but pays off way better. My premise is that we need to begin to look at the consequences instead of the immediate gratification or punishment of a situation.

In writing this post, I have been dealing with much different aspect of consequences that are more inside and emotional by dating the wrong types of men, getting into the wrong friendships, taking improper action etc... I am learning to take a moment and really think through what these actions might bring about. I wish I was 12 again so that I had someone to explain these things to me now and how to control my impulses in order to protect myself. I am learning this at 24 and it's exciting and new and maybe I can live the rest of my life making better choices.

It's interesting to see God drive a point home through your own authority. I think God was speaking to me through Chris today and really wanted me to share this with you as well. Have a great day and God bless you all!

~Erica~