Daily Devotion Dictates Decisions

Let me introduce you to the 4D principle that I’m doing my best to live by… but first let me give you some background. I’ve recently been doing an online “School of Worship” course with a guy named Rick Pino – Rick is just a phenomenal human filled with love, humility, inspiration and knowledge. Part of the classes are a Q&A with different well known Christian worship leaders/song writers/musicians to give their insights on all things worship from singing/song writing to building a deeper relationship with God.

One particular class was with a guy whose music I’ve really connected with over the last 6 months – Chandler Moore – part of Maverick City Music. He was asked a very simple question – “With all the experience that you have now, what one piece of advice would you tell a 16 year old version of yourself?” And Chandler’s answer was so simple yet completely mind blowing – he simply said “never miss a morning with God because out of your devotion comes your decisions”. If you spend that time rooted with God whether it’s 5mins or 5 hours, the decisions you make become God inspired decisions, you don’t have to worry about them or stress yourself with the anxiety of life so much. Just read that line again:

“Out of your devotion comes your decisions”

Think about what you’re devoted to (good or bad) – think about how much time you spend on those things – think about how they build your day – think about how much they shape the decisions you make… for me it was a lightbulb moment. One of the hardest things to do is look in the mirror and admit the things you need to let go of and the things you need more of. I realised that there are plenty of guilty pleasures in my life that are not adding any value to me at all. But similarly it got me thinking about what makes me a better human, what do I need more of… and things started becoming clearer. A big realisation was that when I don’t meet with God at the start of the day, life’s anxieties tend to get a hold of me and even the simplest decisions become a little more difficult to make. That’s not to say life becomes simple and my problems magically go away – but I feel a little calmer in dealing with what the day has to throw at me. Generally speaking I’m kinder in my actions, I’m clearer in my thoughts and I’m softer in my words – I’m just a better version of me! And so was born the 4D principle… Daily Devotion Dictates Decisions. Meet with the big guy each and everyday, even when it’s tough, even when I don’t feel like it… do it everyday, not just as a one off – good habits take time to embed but only a moment to destroy.

Whether you believe in God or not, the theory behind this principle is incredibly powerful and when you think about it, it’s completely true. How often do we reach for our phone and check emails/social media/news before we’ve even got out of bed?! And how much does that influence and shape our day going forward. Sadly most of the time we don’t even realise that our decisions have already been made for us when we see a negative headline, when we don’t receive the email we were expecting, when we didn’t get as many likes on that photo we just posted… we just flip into autopilot and go through the gears without thinking and before we know it, the day is over and you’re ready to start the cycle all over again.

As we all battle our mental health, our physical health and wonder what 2021 holds for us… please take some time to focus on yourself and determine what’s working and what’s not working… what are you devoted to… what dictates your decisions… if it’s no good, get rid… focus on the good things, give them more time, give them more effort. I promise you taking that first step to start getting things in order will be the best decision you make this year.