Last summer, I participated in a two-week trip to a foreign country with a team of four people. It was a team leader, a married couple, and me. Traveling in a foreign country is a difficult thing to do. In addition, everyone has their own ideas about where to go, what to do, and what takes highest priority over one thing or another. Spoken or unspoken conflict will arise.
During this trip, I did the following: I evaluated each decision we made as a team and decided whether or not it was a moral decision we were making or a non-moral one. Things like "Where do we go next?" or "Who should we spend time with?" and "What is the best approach towards our ministry here?" These were the types of decisions we had to make. It just so happened that for each situation, I decided that 100% of the time our decisions were non-moral ones. They were simply choices of preference.
This allowed me to do two things: First, I gave my opinions in each situation with a sense of confidence because I realized it was my opinion and not a moral imperative. I didn't have to get my way. Second, if the team leader or whole team vetoed my opinion on what we should do next, it was easier for me to let go of getting my way because again, I wasn't morally invested into a non-moral decision. I was able to support their decision because I hadn't boiled it down to "right" or "wrong".
The foundation for this type of mindset is the knowledge of grace. Grace says that God isn't angry or even disappointed in us. We’re righteous in His eyes. We don't have to worry about Him pointing the finger at us saying, "See, I told you so. I knew you'd get it wrong this time." We can make mistakes and even sin without the threat of retribution. Without a deep understanding of the grace of God, we will often pin down non-moral decision making of us and others into moral right and wrongs. Oswald Chambers, rightly states that a person who walks with God doesn’t ask what God’s will is, he or she is the will of God.
There were times on this trip that maybe we could have done something better here or there. However, and realistically speaking, God was more concerned that we enjoyed our time and allowed Him to direct our path to the best of our abilities.
In the end, a glorious thing happened--we experienced love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things, there is no law.