Trade-Offs: How Clear Thinking Begins with Counting the Cost

"For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it?" Luke 14:28 –

You are either in the middle of a serious decision – or you soon will be. Maybe it’s buying a house, shifting focus in your business, navigating a delicate relationship, deciding how to spend your money, what church to join, or whether to homeschool your kids.

Pay close attention to what you are about to read:
Every choice comes with a different set of trade-offs.

A trade-off means that you’re accepting the benefits of Option A while giving up the benefits of Option B. Another way to think of it is like this: every decision comes with a cost. A trade-ff is the price you pay to gain the benefit you want.

Now here is the thing to remember: There will always be a trade-off with every decision you make. Every decision will cost you something. Hopefully, you’re happy enough with the benefits of your decision that you are fine with the cost.

"There are no solutions. There are only trade-offs."
— Thomas Sowell

Trade-offs are unavoidable and there is nothing you can do about it. The question isn’t IF you’ll pay a price - the question is WHAT price you are willing to pay and for WHAT benefit you’re willing to pay it.

The sooner in life you understand how decision-making works, the sooner you’ll find clarity and a sense of personal responsibility. And the sooner you feel personally responsible for the decisions you make, the sooner you’ll start making better decision.

Take physical fitness for example. You can pay now with sweat and time for the benefit of looking and feeling better later, or you can pay later for the benefit of not sweating and spending time exercising now. It’s a trade-off and you have to decide where the value is.

There are trade-offs to your pursuit of a closeness with God - there are some things that you will have to give up. I would argue, however, that the benefits far outweigh the costs. You would be exchanging something of little value for something of great value. Like Jesus said in Matthew 13, “The kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls: Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it.”

Think about the trade-offs that come with the decisions you make.

Here’s a quick exercise in thinking more clearly:

Reconsider your plans for the weekend. Think about the trade-offs involved with how you spend your time. Is there something you could change that would bring greater long-term benefit to what’s most important to you?

Your life, in the end, will reflect the choices you made and the trade-offs you accepted. The sooner you learn to recognize the value and costs of the trade-offs, the sooner you will start making choices that align with your values.

Choose carefully. Be wise. Love God supremely and love your neighbor.

James 1:5 –
"If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally..."