The Principle of the Path

I'm listening to Andy Stanley's most recent book, The Principle of the Path... and it's turning out to be a rather great "read". Andy is one of those guys that seems to have figured out how to get from here to there, so I figured I’d read his book about how to get from where I am to where I want to be.  

The key idea of the book is that "Direction - not intention - determines your destination."  It's a useful concept... especially because many of us (myself included) often convince ourselves that good intentions are enough.  Ah, many roads ARE paved with good intentions... but many don't lead where we want to be going, frankly.

Here are some of the highlights from my book:

• “To get from where we don’t want to be to where we do want to be requires two things: time and a change of direction.”
• “Direction–not intentions, hopes, dreams, prayers, beliefs, intellect, or education–determines destination.”
• “We should break the habit of drawing a circle around individual decisions and events and dismissing them as isolated occurrences. These are steps. Steps that lead somewhere.”
• “Prudent people look as far down the road as possible when making decisions.”
• “Christians start talking about forgiveness as if somehow forgiveness serves as an escape hatch from the outcome of bad decisions.”
• “When happiness points in one direction while wisdom, truth, integrity, and common sense point in another, that’s when really smart people start doing really stupid things.”
• “Your heart can’t be trusted… The truth is, if you let it, your heart will direct you down a path that leads to the very spot you most want to avoid.”
• “The choices are now. The outcomes are later. The decisions you make today have ramifications down the road.”
• “One never accomplishes the will of God by breaking the law of God, violating the principles of God, or ignoring the wisdom of God.”
• “I am constantly amazed at how resistant folks are to take their cues from people who are where they want to be.”
• “We don’t drift in good directions. We discipline and prioritize ourselves there.”

Simple principles in this book, but their implications have an enormous impact on the outcomes of our lives.  I encourage you to pick up the book or download it from Audible.com like we did. 

I’m leaving lots of great quotes and stories out of this post. It has got me thinking about a lot of excellent applications and course corrections for my own life... as well as how I can best "help" those who are experiencing the end results of the directions in life they have chosen.  ~Brady