Knowing What You Want Will Keep You From Making Bad Decisions

Ever wonder why Joseph didn’t sleep with Potiphar’s wife? He certainly could have. She came on to him often, and finally got so tired of his rejections that she lied and said he tried to rape her. Joseph ended up in prison for a crime he didn’t commit.

But what gave Joseph the strength to not give in to temptation?

First, Joseph knew what was his and what wasn’t, and Potiphar’s wife was not his, and Joseph had a great deal of respect for Potiphar. Second, and second is important, Joseph knew his own destiny.

*Photo Credit: Oleh Slobodeniuk, Creative Commons

He’d been told in a dream he would become a powerful man. And that was beginning to happen in Joseph’s life. Joseph ran all of Potiphar’s affairs. He may not have known it then, but he was in training to run all of Egypt.

One of the most important elements of story has to do with what the main character wants. Does he want the girl? Does the football team want to win the state championship? If we don’t know what the main character wants, the story is boring and dull and it’s torture to sit through.

The same is true for a human life.

If we don’t know what we want, or where we are going, the story is boring. And worse, the protagonist makes terrible decisions.

If I offered you a penthouse condo in New York City worth millions and stipulated that in order to claim it you had to drive across the country, would you be tempted by the offer of a run-down shack in the midwest? The only way you’d be tempted by that is if I hadn’t offered you the condo.

When we don’t know where we are headed in life, we are vulnerable to temptation.

A good character in a good story knows what he or she wants.

What do you daydream about?

What successes have you had? What do other people believe you are good at? What other lives out there inspire yours? When do you feel like you and God are working on a project together?

These are all clues that help us understand how we are wired and help us decide what to do with our lives. Write it down and head that direction. Feel free to let it evolve and change, because you will evolve and change. Just don’t wander around in a directionless fog.

Can you think of a person who has inspired you who was completely directionless? What would the world be like if God just wandered around and didn’t want anything or wasn’t trying to accomplish the rescue of the world?

Knowing What You Want Will Keep You From Making Bad Decisions is a post from: Storyline Blog