Resolving Up Front

“Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine, and he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself this way.” Daniel 1:8

When my children were teenagers I remember encouraging them to make decisions up front when faced with a decision that could cause temptation. If they were going to be around a person with whom they usually argued I would tell them to decide up front to stay calm and not be pulled into their pettiness. As they got older the temptations grew more serious such as drinking at a party or saying no to drugs.

To resolve is “to come to a firm decision about something, to find a solution to a problem and to dispel doubts or anxieties.” The most difficult thing to do as a Christian is to maintain the consistency of integrity. We know how we want to live our lives but find ourselves in temptation at our weakest moments. Satan doesn’t attack in the strong areas of our lives but waits until he sees our approaching weaknesses. As God told Cain before he killed his brother, “Sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you.” Gen. 4:7.

If we are to be people of integrity we must resolve to make certain decisions in our minds before facing them with our hands. The word ‘integrity’ in the Latin translation means entire. It is the “quality or state of being complete or undivided.” It is being resolved to respond a certain way in every circumstance.

Like Daniel, we can ask our Chief Official for help in keeping us pure, clean and resolved to make the consistent decisions of living inside out. Inside out living is the practice of being the same person and making the same godly decisions apart from the change of our surroundings of people, places or things.

By living this way, we align ourselves more successfully to ward off the crouching enemy whose resolve is to disorient, confuse and destroy. Let us resolve to live a life that shuts the door to sin and its desire to overtake both our lives and our ministries.