It's Personal

Sally Pipes of the Chicago Tribune wrote an article titled "What's at fault for lower life expectancy in US." This article appeared in the editorial section of the Columbia, South Carolina The State newspaper on September 23, 2022. In her article Pipes cited some obvious contributors to the lower life expectancy in the US. She mentioned the Covid-19 virus, deaths from unintended injuries like car crashes, drug overdose, gun violence and the higher rates of obesity and diabetes.

The thing that captured my attention most in the article was the writer's last paragraph. She wrote, "Progressives tend to blame systems, rather than individual choices, for disparities in everything from income to health. But sometimes, those choices matter more than any system." Whatever her motivation for writing these words, she made a valid point. Individual choices have consequences. They impact all areas of our lives including our life expectancy.

The Apostle Paul gave us some important scriptural principles for making individual choices. The first is to choose what pleases God. "Finally then, brethren, we urge and exhort in the Lord Jesus that you should abound more and more, just as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God" (1 Thessalonians 4:1). The choice that pleases God will not always please people or be culturally and politically popular. It is the price we must be willing to pay as followers of Christ.

The second scriptural principle for making individual choices is to choose the path of edification.

"All things are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful; all things are lawful for me, but not all things edify. Let no one seek his own, but each one the other's well-being" (1 Corinthians 10:23,24). What a liberating word Paul has written to us! Rather than being in bondage to the law or attempting to do something that is near impossible for many of us, Paul has given us a better way. It's the way of edification. I confess that one law I have always struggled with is obeying speed limits on the highways, especially interstates. Hopefully, while not always obeying the letter of the law on speed limits, I have tried to drive in a responsible way not to injury others or myself. This is what edification does. It seeks to build up and help others.

We definitely need God's help to make the right personal choices. Galatians 5:22.23 list the fruit of the Spirit. The last fruit mentioned is "self-control." Many times, making the right personal choice is a matter of self-control. Can I control my desires, emotions and, ultimately, my will to the degree that I make the right choice.

This blog is not intended to say that systems do not matter or engage in some political argument. I simply believe that nothing in our lives will have greater influence on our life expectancy and other life outcomes than our personal choices.