20 Bible Verses About Making Decisions

James 1:5

“If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.”

Reflection: James is writing about trials (1:2-4), and the lack of wisdom he has in mind comes in the middle of them. God is described as one who gives “generously to all without finding fault.” The following verses add one condition: the one asking “must believe and not doubt,” because a doubter is “like a wave of the sea” and “double-minded and unstable in all they do” (1:6-8).

1 Kings 3:9

“So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?”

Reflection: At Gibeon the Lord appears to Solomon in a dream and says, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you” (3:5). Solomon, newly made king in place of David, calls himself “only a little child” who does not know how to carry out his duties, and asks for a discerning heart to govern and to tell right from wrong. God is pleased that he asked for this rather than long life, wealth or the death of his enemies, and grants it (3:10-12).

Proverbs 3:5-6

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.”

Reflection: A father teaching his son (3:1) sets trusting the Lord against leaning on one’s own understanding. The submission covers “all your ways,” and the promise attached to it is that he will make the paths straight. Verse 7 continues the thought: “Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and shun evil.”

Psalm 32:8

“I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you.”

Reflection: Psalm 32 opens with the blessing of the one whose sins are forgiven, and the promise of instruction comes after the psalmist has confessed his sin (32:5). The next verse says how the teaching is not to be received: “Do not be like the horse or the mule, which have no understanding but must be controlled by bit and bridle.” The counsel is offered to someone expected to understand it and come willingly.

Isaiah 30:21

“Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, ‘This is the way; walk in it.’”

Reflection: The chapter opens with a woe on “those who carry out plans that are not mine,” who went down to Egypt for help “without consulting me” (30:1-2). Verse 21 belongs to the promise that follows: those who wait for the Lord (30:18) will see their teachers again, and a voice behind them will say which way to walk, whether they turn right or left. The next verse has them throwing away their idols overlaid with silver and gold.

Psalm 119:105

“Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.”

Reflection: Psalm 119 is a long psalm in praise of God’s law, and here the word is a lamp for the next step and a light for the path. The following line turns the image into a commitment: “I have taken an oath and confirmed it, that I will follow your righteous laws.” The guidance in view is the commands already given, followed one step at a time.

Proverbs 16:3

“Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and he will establish your plans.”

Reflection: Just before this verse, Proverbs 16:2 warns that “all a person’s ways seem pure to them, but motives are weighed by the Lord.” Verse 3 is a separate proverb set beside it. In it the plans remain the person’s own, and the Lord is the one who establishes them.

Proverbs 16:9

“In their hearts humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps.”

Reflection: The verse assumes that people plan and does not tell them to stop. Their hearts plan the course, and the Lord establishes the steps taken along it. The chapter opens with the same pairing: “To humans belong the plans of the heart, but from the Lord comes the proper answer of the tongue” (16:1).

James 4:15

“Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.””

Reflection: James addresses traders who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money” (4:13). What he faults is the boasting (4:16), planning as though tomorrow were certain: “You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.” His correction is to plan under the words “If it is the Lord’s will,” and verse 17 closes the paragraph: “If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them.”

Proverbs 16:33

“The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord.”

Reflection: Casting lots was a way of reaching a decision, and the proverb says the outcome belongs to the Lord. In Acts 1:23-26 the apostles pray, “Show us which of these two you have chosen,” then cast lots, and the lot falls to Matthias. Neither passage tells readers to decide by lot; both treat the result of the throw as the Lord’s.

Proverbs 15:22

“Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed.”

Reflection: Plans fail “for lack of counsel” and succeed “with many advisers.” Proverbs 11:14 applies the same rule to a nation: “For lack of guidance a nation falls, but victory is won through many advisers.”

Proverbs 12:15

“The way of fools seems right to them, but the wise listen to advice.”

Reflection: The fool in this proverb has already judged his own way and found it right. The wise, set against him, are those who listen to advice.

Proverbs 19:20

“Listen to advice and accept discipline, and at the end you will be counted among the wise.”

Reflection: Advice and discipline are paired, and the reward comes “at the end”: being counted among the wise. The next verse sets all human planning under God’s: “Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails” (19:21).

Romans 12:2

“Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”

Reflection: Paul makes his appeal “in view of God’s mercy” (12:1), asking for bodies offered as a living sacrifice. The renewed mind is what makes the testing possible: “Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is.” The rest of the chapter turns to concrete commands, beginning “Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good” (12:9).

Philippians 1:9-10

“And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ.”

Reflection: Paul’s prayer for the church at Philippi asks for love that grows “in knowledge and depth of insight,” so that they can “discern what is best.” Discernment here grows out of love that has knowledge in it, and its aim is to be “pure and blameless for the day of Christ.”

Colossians 3:15

“Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.”

Reflection: The verb translated “rule” is brabeuo, which Strong’s defines as to arbitrate or decide, from a word for an umpire. In its context the peace is between people: it follows the commands to bear with and forgive one another (3:13), and its reason is “as members of one body you were called to peace.”

1 Corinthians 10:23

“‘I have the right to do anything,’ you say—but not everything is beneficial. ‘I have the right to do anything’—but not everything is constructive.”

Reflection: Paul quotes the Corinthians’ own claim, “I have the right to do anything,” and answers with two tests: whether a thing is beneficial and whether it is constructive. The question in front of him is eating meat that may have been offered to idols, and he adds a third test: “No one should seek their own good, but the good of others” (10:24). The section ends with a rule for choices of every size: “whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God” (10:31).

Deuteronomy 30:19

“This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live.”

Reflection: Israel has not yet crossed the Jordan (30:18), and two ways are set before the people: “life and prosperity, death and destruction” (30:15). Heaven and earth are called as witnesses, and the speaker tells them which to take: “Now choose life.” Verse 20 defines that choice as loving the Lord, listening to his voice and holding fast to him, “for the Lord is your life.”

Joshua 24:15

“But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”

Reflection: Joshua has gathered the tribes of Israel at Shechem (24:1) and sets out the choice: the gods their ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, the gods of the Amorites in whose land they live, or the Lord. He gives his own answer before hearing theirs. The people reply, “Far be it from us to forsake the Lord to serve other gods!” (24:16).

Galatians 6:7-8

“Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.”

Reflection: Paul uses a farmer’s rule to say that choices have harvests. Sowing to please the flesh reaps destruction, sowing to please the Spirit reaps eternal life, and verse 9 adds that the harvest comes “at the proper time” to those who do not give up. The verse before applies the rule to something specific: sharing “all good things” with those who teach the word (6:6).