Free Will (decisions)

He who created us without our help will not save us without our consent.

- Saint Augustine

I have made many decisions that misrepresented God.  

God cannot misrepresent himself. He is completely Who Is. He does not control you. He wants to help you make good decisions but he will not override your will, otherwise he would not be Who He Is. 

I believe one of the ways to help you is to help you make decisions that help God help you. I believe that one way this can be done is by helping you no longer want to make decisions that hurt you and others of you. One way this can happen is to help you know the truth about God, how He wants you for no other reason than He wants you. I believe if you know there is nothing in God's heart He  wants more than  you, you will naturally be more inclined to want Him and be able to trust Him more.  

Psalm 32: 8-9 I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;  I will counsel you with my loving eye on you.9 Do not be like the horse or the mule,  which have no understanding but must be controlled by bit and bridle or they will not come to you.

Philemon 1:4 But I did not want to do anything without your consent, so that any favor you do would not seem forced but would be voluntary.

Example of freewill (allowing you to decide for yourself)

Israel Asks for a King

8 When Samuel grew old, he appointed his sons as Israel’s leaders.[a]2 The name of his firstborn was Joel and the name of his second was Abijah, and they served at Beersheba. 3 But his sons did not follow his ways. They turned aside after dishonest gain and accepted bribes and perverted justice.

4 So all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah. 5 They said to him, “You are old, and your sons do not follow your ways; now appoint a king to lead[b] us, such as all the other nations have.”

6 But when they said, “Give us a king to lead us,” this displeased Samuel; so he prayed to the Lord. 7 And the Lord told him: “Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king. 8 As they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are doing to you. 9 Now listen to them; but warn them solemnly and let them know what the king who will reign over them will claim as his rights.”

10 Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people who were asking him for a king. 11 He said, “This is what the king who will reign over you will claim as his rights: He will take your sons and make them serve with his chariots and horses, and they will run in front of his chariots. 12 Some he will assign to be commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and others to plow his ground and reap his harvest, and still others to make weapons of war and equipment for his chariots. 13 He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. 14 He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive groves and give them to his attendants. 15 He will take a tenth of your grain and of your vintage and give it to his officials and attendants. 16 Your male and female servants and the best of your cattle[c] and donkeys he will take for his own use. 17 He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his slaves. 18 When that day comes, you will cry out for relief from the king you have chosen, but the Lord will not answer you in that day.”

19 But the people refused to listen to Samuel. “No!” they said. “We wanta king over us. 20 Then we will be like all the other nations, with a king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles.”

21 When Samuel heard all that the people said, he repeated it before the Lord. 22 The Lord answered, “Listen to them and give them a king.”

Then Samuel said to the Israelites, “Everyone go back to your own town.”