The maturity question - “What is the WISE thing to do?”.  Notice the subtle brilliance in this question - it isn’t “What can I get away with?”, or “What is legal?”, or “What is permissible?”.  In fact, Andy expands on it and makes this into such a powerful question as written:

“In light of my past experiences, in light of my future hopes and dreams, what is the wise thing to do?

Or, given what I know about me, what I have experienced and learned in life - given what I want for myself and for my future and for the future of my family - what is the best choice, the wise choice?  Great, great question.

Immediately coming to mind while was reading this was a passage from the New Testament, from 1 Corinthians chapter 10.  Notice the apostle Paul’s comments in 1 Corinthians 10:23:  “All things are lawful,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful,” but not all things build up.   I can almost see this same line of thinking, this same question, buried in his comments.

Poor decisions are like dog poop in the yard - if you aren’t careful you’ll not only step in it, but you may actually bring it into the house.  It just goes with you.

This question forces us to face the very things we are trying to ignore in my decision making process.  This question is personal...we could just as easily restate the question with the emphasis on the YOU vs. elsewhere and create an emphasis on that element - what is the wise thing for YOU, for ME, to do.

The point of this question is this - if we avoid doing what is unwise, we will certainly avoid doing what’s wrong.  If we avoid doing what is unwise, we will avoid regret.

Wow, what a strong question.