A bad decision made in faith has a greater likelihood of success than a good decision made in doubt. 

I love sharing this when I speak or write. It jolts people into considering what they believe about what they are doing.When I share this statement, I also mention that I am not saying we should have faith to sin, but there are many areas where God has given us the freedom to choose what to believe and do. I address this in my book and course called Fully Convinced: The Art of Decision Making. This course has just begun, and it’s not too late to join! The book will be released in late 2022.

We are to grow in many areas as we mature in Christ (fruits of the Spirit, Holy Spirit power, functioning in our unique gifts and callings, etc.), but another area we are to grow in is to become fully convinced in our own mind (attaching faith) to who we are and what we are doing. This blog will give you more biblical insight into how to do this by studying Romans 14. 

Romans 14 is an incredible chapter for those who want to be fully convinced and attach faith to their actions. It speaks about personal responsibility, diversity in decision-making, deciding in faith, not negatively influencing those weaker in faith, and warns us about judging the choices of others. Here are some of the key phrases in the chapter:

• “Receive one who is weak in the faith, but not to dispute over doubtful things” (vs 1) - It is noteworthy that there are “doubtful things” for us to address in our lives. These are matters that do not have a heavenly clear directive. 
• “For one believes he may eat all things, but he who is weak eats only vegetables” vs 2) -  Why is the one who eats only vegetables considered weak in faith? It is because they are trying to produce their own righteousness instead of believing what Jesus has done for them. We are considered weak if we believe that God is more interested in what we are doing than believing (see verse 17).
• “Let not him who eats despise him who does not eat, and let not him who does not eat judge him who eats; for God has received him” (vs 3) - We are to not despise (think badly about) those who have are weak in faith (who believe true spirituality is measured by choosing not to do certain things).
• “Who are you to judge another’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. Indeed, he will be made to stand, for God is able to make him stand” (vs 4) - If we are focused on judging others, we are working against God’s grace in those we judge. We are to believe they “will be made to stand” (will be empowered by God to Christian maturity). 
• “One person esteems one day above another; another esteems every day alike. Let each be fully convinced in his own mind” (vs 5) -  We are to be fully convinced about what we do and what we believe. And it is possible concerning doubtful things that two people will have a different opinion and both be right. 
• “But why do you judge your brother? Or why do you show contempt for your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ” (vs 10) - If we are regularly critiquing what others are doing and believing, then we are misguided. We are to take responsibility for our choices and beliefs because that is what we will give account for. 
• “Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather resolve this, not to put a stumbling block or a cause to fall in our brother’s way” (vs 13) - We are to replace any tendency to judge others with the commitment to be a positive example to other believers, especially those who are weaker in the faith. 
• “I know and am convinced by the Lord Jesus that there is nothing unclean of itself; but to him who considers anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean” (vs 14) - Our beliefs about whether our choices are right or wrong have a greater impact than we might think on our inner victory and influence.
• “For the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit” (vs 17) - If we pursue the depths of righteousness, peace, and joy, we will develop the beliefs and theology to experience the abundant life Jesus spoke about in John 10:10. 
• “It is good neither to eat meat nor drink wine nor do anything by which your brother stumbles or is offended or is made weak” (vs 21) - As we remove the shackles of legalism and doubt, we should not allow this freedom to detach us from deep connections in the body of Christ (where we can make sure our freedom is rooted in love and positive influence). Certainly, not everyone is going to agree with our choices and beliefs, but we do need to be sensitive to the dynamics of the culture we are in and the people we are called to influence.
• “Do you have faith? Have it to yourself before God. Happy is he who does not condemn himself in what he approves” (vs 22) - We are to decide by connecting personally with the Lord what we “approve” of in many areas of life. We will be unhappy if we condemn ourselves for things we have previously approved. (Note: we may change our mind on what we approve of, but we need a good process of decision-making, and to not be wishy-washy and regularly changing our minds).
• ​​”But he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because he does not eat from faith; for whatever is not from faith is sin” (vs 23) - This chapter ends with the powerful statement that whatever we do apart from faith is sin. The original word in the Bible for the word sin is hamartia. The word hamartia means “missing the mark,” deriving from the sport of archery. As we attach faith to our beliefs and choices, we will “hit the mark” in our purpose, assignments, inner victory, and relationships. This verse is not to create a fear of punishment mindset of “If I don’t have enough faith, I must be sinning”, but it is to impress on us that what we believe is ultimately more important than what we do.

We may not fully understand how to implement these concepts into our lives, but as we ask God for wisdom, He will reveal to us personally the gold in Romans 14. Truly, a bad decision made in faith has a greater likelihood of success than a good decision made in doubt. 

I will go deeper into these things in my book Fully Convinced and in the course you can enroll in here.