The Hidden Cost of Every Decision

The Hidden Cost of Every Decision

Today I had a realization.

It wasn’t a new concept. In fact, it was something I had learned years ago. In economics, it’s called opportunity cost. Simply put, every choice has a cost because choosing one thing means giving up something else.

I’ve understood that principle for a long time.

Today, however, it became personal.

As I write this, I am overweight, uncomfortable, and frustrated.

There is a certain irony in admitting that.

For the past two years, while working full-time and pursuing my degree, I have also been building a faith-based fitness ministry and business. I am a certified personal trainer and sports nutritionist. Through Girded with Strength Fitness, I encourage others to honor God with their health and steward their bodies well.

Yet somewhere along the way, I allowed my own health to slide.

Not because I stopped believing in the importance of fitness.

Not because I forgot what to do.

But because I convinced myself that I was too busy.

Too busy with work.

Too busy with school.

Too busy building the very ministry that encourages others to pursue better health.

For two years, school has been a major priority. Between assignments, studying, work responsibilities, church responsibilities, and trying to build a business, I kept telling myself I would focus on my health when things slowed down.

The problem is that life rarely slows down.

And today I realized something important.

Every choice requires a sacrifice.

The Opportunity Cost of Every Choice

For the past two years, I have been focused on goals that matter.

Completing my degree matters.

Providing for my family matters.

Building a ministry that helps others honor God with their health matters.

None of those things are bad.

In fact, they are all good things.

But good things still carry opportunity costs.

The opportunity cost of prioritizing work, school, and ministry was my health.

I wasn’t intentionally choosing poor health. I was simply choosing other things instead.

At least that’s what I told myself.

The reality is that every time I chose one thing, I was also choosing not to do something else.

When I chose extra work, I gave up time for exercise.

When I chose convenience, I gave up better nutrition.

When I chose to delay taking care of myself, I gave up some of the energy, strength, and well-being that come from consistently stewarding my health.

I acted as though there was no cost.

There was.

There always is.

The Irony I Could No Longer Ignore

Looking back, I can clearly see the contradiction.

I was building a fitness business while neglecting my own fitness.

I was teaching stewardship while failing to steward my own health as well as I should.

I was helping others identify obstacles while making excuses for my own.

That realization was uncomfortable.

But it was also necessary.

In some ways, it reminded me of a danger that exists in ministry.

It is possible to become so focused on serving others that we neglect our own walk with God. We can spend so much time teaching, encouraging, and ministering that our own spiritual health begins to suffer.

The Apostle Paul understood this danger when he wrote:

“But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.”

— 1 Corinthians 9:27 (KJV)

Paul understood that ministering to others did not exempt him from the need for personal discipline.

Neither does building a fitness ministry exempt me from the responsibility of caring for my own health.

If anything, it makes it even more important.

The lesson God impressed upon me today is that good things can still pull us away from other things that matter if we are not careful.

Work is good.

Education is good.

Ministry is good.

Building a business that serves others is good.

But none of those things eliminate my responsibility to steward the body God has entrusted to me.

Discipline Has a Cost

Most people focus on what discipline requires them to give up.

Exercise requires time.

Healthy eating requires planning.

Getting enough sleep may require turning off the television or putting down the phone.

Discipline costs something.

But what I failed to recognize was that lack of discipline costs something too.

If I choose discipline, I sacrifice comfort.

If I choose comfort, I sacrifice progress.

If I choose to prepare healthy meals, I sacrifice convenience.

If I choose convenience, I may sacrifice my health.

If I choose to spend thirty minutes exercising, I sacrifice thirty minutes that could have been spent doing something else.

If I choose not to exercise, I am sacrificing something as well.

There is no path without sacrifice.

The only question is which sacrifice we are willing to make.

A Living Sacrifice

As I reflected on this realization, my thoughts returned to Scripture.

Paul writes:

“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.”

— Romans 12:1 (KJV)

The Christian life has always involved sacrifice.

Following Christ means saying no to some things so we can say yes to something greater.

Sometimes that means sacrificing comfort.

Sometimes it means sacrificing popularity.

Sometimes it means sacrificing temporary pleasures.

Yet we often overlook the opportunity cost of the opposite choice.

What is the cost of disobedience?

What is the cost of drifting away from God?

What is the cost of neglecting the gifts and responsibilities He has entrusted to us?

Just as there is a cost to discipline, there is a cost to indulgence.

Just as there is a cost to obedience, there is a cost to compromise.

Nobody escapes sacrifice.

What Am I Really Choosing?

Today’s realization wasn’t really about weight.

It wasn’t even primarily about fitness.

It was about honesty.

I had been telling myself that I was choosing work, school, and ministry because they were important.

And they are important.

But I was acting as though those choices came with no downside.

The reality is that every “yes” requires a “no.”

Every priority pushes something else lower on the list.

Every choice carries an opportunity cost.

That realization doesn’t fill me with guilt.

It fills me with responsibility.

Because if my current choices helped create my current situation, then different choices can help create a different future.

I may not be where I want to be today.

But today I can choose differently.

Final Thoughts

Perhaps the greatest lesson I learned today is that sacrifice itself is unavoidable.

We can sacrifice comfort for health.

Or we can sacrifice health for comfort.

We can sacrifice temporary pleasures for spiritual growth.

Or we can sacrifice spiritual growth for temporary pleasures.

We can sacrifice what we want now for what we want most.

Or we can sacrifice what we want most for what we want now.

Either way, something is being surrendered.

The question is not whether we will sacrifice.

The question is whether we are sacrificing the right things.

Today I realized that every choice requires a sacrifice.

Now I have to decide which sacrifices are worth making.