Romans 8: If You Have to Justify What You're Doing, Don't Do It!!!

PLEASE TAKE THE TIME TO READ THIS EVEN IF YOU ARE NOT AN ADDICT or SINGLE. IT APPLIES TO EVERYBODY!!

Today I was listening to a client as she sat at lunch and defended her new boyfriend to the people at her table. As I listened, I had an epiphany. If I feel the need to defend and justify my choices and decisions before I am even confronted on them, I probably have made the the wrong choice. This may sound wrong, but let me give you an example.

Imagine I am Client X, and I am single. I have an open case with Children's Division or I am on probation. Maybe I am on probation and have an open case with Children's Division, or maybe I am just fresh into my period of sobriety. I begin dating. The person I am dating is on probation/parole and is sober but has a history with addiction issues.

Everbody else sees this as a problem. I do not. Instead I begin to justify my choice. "Who is _______ (fill in the blank with whoever fits ie judge, probation officer, case worker, your friends and family, etc.) to judge my choices. I am sober, and I expect people to give me the benefit of the doubt." This is followed by, "I don't want people to judge me by my past and always hold it against me. I would not want someone to not date me because of my past." These are my justifications to date people I probably should not, and to me they sound sane.

To others, they have their reasons for being concerned. "So this is the company you choose to keep and have around your children." "What, were there not any better choices out there?"  "Is your dating service mugshots.com?" "Why are you drawn to the same type of person over and over. You know how it has always ended in the past!" "Why do you not hold out for better. If you date someone just like you it is easy to relapse, recidivate and backslide."

The truth is, we should want better for ourselves. Maybe this is because I married up and I wish everyone else would do the same. I did not settle for Ms. Right Now, I held out for Ms. Right! The same is true for all of my decisions. Before I make any decision, I ask myself if this is a choice that I am going to have to justify to people. If it is, I DON"T DO IT!!!!

If I am living a moral Christian life, I should not have to justify my choices. I am led by the Spirit in all that I do. I will pray on my choices, and then wait for the whisper of God and the direction of the Holy Spirit to guide me. If God is for me (and behind my choices), then none can stand against them(Romans 8:31). If I know the choice I am compelled to make is because I am acting as the hands and feet of God then I need not justify my choices.

Read the entire 8th Chapter of Romans http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+8&version=NIV for more about this. If I live my life based off of what the spirit desires instead of what the flesh desires, I am justified in all that I do. If I am justified in my actions, I do not feel the need to justify my actions.