Close the Door on the Things You Have Already Decided
A mostly closed door is still open. Some choices become easier when you stop renegotiating them every time temptation or inconvenience returns.
There is a large difference between a closed door and a mostly closed door. A mostly closed door still allows the same issue to return and restart the debate.
Some of the most draining decisions in life are the ones you have technically made but continue reconsidering.
Do not make provision for what you already know is wrong
Colossians 3 names behaviors that do not belong in the Christian life. Romans 13 says to put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh.
If you know something does not belong, wisdom asks why you keep preserving a little access to it.
Change your language from possibility to conviction
Instead of saying, “I probably won’t,” or “I’m going to try not to,” some situations call for a settled sentence: “I do not do that.”
Language does not magically create holiness, but it reveals whether the decision is still being negotiated.
Close doors on good commitments too
This principle is not only negative. There are good actions that remain uncertain because we treat them as optional every morning.
You can decide, as far as it depends on you, that today you will pray, exercise, call the person, keep the commitment, or do the needed work.
Use settled decisions to reduce mental noise
Not every choice should be permanent, and wisdom remains open to new information. But some recurring debates consume energy without producing insight.
Close the doors that need closing. Make the good commitments that need making. Then use the energy you save to live faithfully.
A mostly closed door is still open.
Take the idea with you.
- 01What wrong option do I keep preserving even though I know the answer?
- 02What good action needs to move from “probably” to “I will”?
- 03What sentence could clearly express a conviction I need today?
Listen to the original episode
This article was adapted from Episode 16 · Closing the Door. Continue with the podcast for the original teaching in Kris’s voice.
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