If I do not know how to listen to God, then I will not know how to be obedient to God.

That's why you cannot separate learning to listen to Him and obeying Him.

And oftentimes people would say, well, I just don't know what God is saying.

It is our responsibility to learn how to listen to Him.

If I'm going to be obedient, I must know what it is God wants me to do.

I must learn how to listen to Him to be sure I am hearing from Him and not making up my own mind.

Welcome to In Touch, the teaching ministry of Dr. Charles Stanley.

Do you ever think much about the things God has taught you?

Have you ever written them down?

Well, that was Dr. Stanley's habit.

And today we'll hear the first part of a message he delivered in 1997,

in which he elaborated on the foundational principles that had guided his life.

Here's part one of Lessons I Have Learned.

Do you live by principle or by the pressures of the moment?

Do you find yourself making decisions based on immediate feelings

or rather by the principles of the Word of God?

Are you more influenced by your environment around you

or by the Holy Spirit who's living within you?

Could you say that you have a sense of direction,

a sense of meaning, a sense of purpose in your life?

Are you just sort of responding and reacting to life

as situations and circumstances arise?

...