Choosing Christ and Happiness

 By Ron Gates

           In our daily lives there are choices and decisions we must make in order for us to function as individuals. From our wakening each morning, to what we eat, the clothes we wear, the company we keep, the decisions we make until we lie down again at night affect our lives.

             As a Christian counselor with Western Carolina Rescue Ministries, I counsel men and women whose bad decisions have caused detrimental affects to their lives. Often I find that these bad decisions are made by fine individuals during their more impressionable youth. We can all relate to the poor decisions of our youth, but for many, it seems these bad decisions will rob them of happiness for years to come. Influenced by peers, music, television, dysfunctional families, no family at all, the youth of today are inclined to say “Yes” to a life of materialism, crime, violence, sexual promiscuity, physical abuse, alcoholism, drug addiction and other ills. I am finding that poor moral choices are stripping people of their God-given right to live freely and happily, and causing a ripple effect that harmfully impacts every area of life including their families. People are being enslaved by bad choices.

My passion to help others, young and old, stems from my own history of bad decisions. At one time, I was a drunk and a “crack-head” (cocaine habit) with no place to stay. I was unemployed, and my relationship to my family was broken. Many of the choices I made in my youth and young adult life led to my destructive lifestyle. Today, I have been free from drugs and alcohol for over 10 years. When I first came to Asheville, I had completed a drug treatment program and stayed in a local shelter. God has now blessed me with a home and a beautiful wife and has restored my relationship with my two sons. Once unemployed, I now am a Christian counselor for the Western Carolina Rescue Ministries, an ordained elder at Sycamore Temple Church of God in Christ, and the President of the Board of Grace Community Development Corporation.

Ron Gates

             So here\’s the good news. We don\’t have to be enslaved by our bad choices anymore. I witness the same miracle time and time again in the lives of those I counsel. The hopelessly addicted, homeless, angry, depressed, and abused are turning their lives around, finding employment, reliable transportation, housing, a community of friends, and restoring relationships with family. People are finding hope and freedom to live life as they were created to live — in happiness, realizing their full potential. The key to their happiness and living is Jesus Christ. By living in a relationship with Him, they are learning to make the right choices that guide them how and when to say “Yes” or “No.”

Behavior modification can never change an individual\’s heart and soul. In fact, a person can make all the right decisions and lose their own soul. In other words, we may prosper by living according to biblical principles and miss the joyous and happy life that God intends for us. He knows we can\’t keep all His rules and that, historically, we haven\’t kept them. He came because we need forgiveness, and to offer his perfect life on our behalf because we are unable to do so. It is by accepting His life, in the place our broken lives, that we will begin living rightly, richly, freely, and happily.

Undoubtedly, there will be situations and individuals that will challenge your decision-making. Don\’t face those decisions alone. Seek Christ first. We will then be able to live out the principles of the Bible; thinking and choosing rightly before we act; following through with faithfulness, consistency, determination, and perseverance. Happiness, fullness and freedom can be ours.

Deuteronomy 30:19b reads “‚ĶI have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live.” If you are looking for tools to encourage and teach your youth, and give them an avenue to say “Yes” to biblical principles – contact Ron Gates and the Grace Community Development Corporation at [email protected] or (828) 253-0645.