James 1:14, 15  Temptation comes from our own desires, which entice us and drag us away. ¹⁵ These desires give birth to sinful actions. And when sin is allowed to grow, it gives birth to death. (TLB)

Over the last year we have seen the reputations of two major college football coaches be devastated due to judgments and the resulting actions taken or not taken by both men.  Both men have accomplished a great deal of good.  One is particularly known for his Christian faith.  The other has been beyond an icon at his school and nationally. It seems that 99+% of what they have done is beyond reproach.

The events that occurred in the past year will overshadow what they have done and likely be pre-eminent in the consideration of their legacies.  Both men lost their coaching positions and left all who knew them wondering how this could happen – particularly to them.  In the busy-ness of their lives, both men encountered situations that called for responses different than the ones they took.

Something was amiss in their judgment process, because both men chose responses that were not the right ones – and that should have been apparent to them.   Unfortunately, it appears they were both blind to the reality and consequences of their actions when they took them.  Thank God for forgiveness.  My question is what can we learn from this?

The frightening fact in all this is the same type of misjudgment can happen to us.  We can be men and women of excellent reputations who find ourselves in trying situations where our judgment is clouded and the resulting choices we make are inconsistent with our lives, our faith and what we believe.

Maybe we see the reality of what we are facing but when the choices are ‘weighed’ upon the ‘scales’ in our minds, our ‘scales’ are faulty – they reflect inappropriate weighting of the various options before us – leading to decisions we shouldn’t have made.  How many times has this led to affairs, taking something that isn’t ours, lies, abortions, deceptions, cheating on taxes or tests, losing our tempers – to actions that later produce much regret?

Praise God for forgiveness and the mercies He extends to us.  Praise God that He enables us to so walk with Him in His ways that we are protected from such ‘failings’.  He enables us to consistently make decisions that glorify Him; we just have to rely upon Him.  I am so grateful for the fear of the Lord!  (If you don’t understand the value of the fear of the Lord, your ‘scales’ are amiss).  Proverbs 16:6b “…through the fear of the LORD a man avoids evil.”  The fear of the Lord also teaches us wisdom (Proverbs 15:33).

May we have the humility to recognize just how dependent upon our Lord our lives must be each and every day in order for us to persevere in all trials that come our way; that our choices will always reflect His righteousness.