Certain occupations require a particularly strong self-image. For example, a dentist needs a strong self-image because everyone dreads what they do. You also probably need a pretty strong self-image to be an IRS agent. How about a baseball umpire? Everybody thinks they can see better than the umpire, yelling when they don't agree with a call, "Hey, are you blind?" Fans comment on the intelligence of the umpire when they disagree, but you cannot have baseball without umpires. Imagine the players trying to agree on whether a guy was safe or out at second base. That would end the game right there! How about letting the fans decide? There would be chaos without the umpire. Thousands of voices may give their opinion about whether the runner was safe or not, but there's only one voice that matters. The umpire settles it.
Colossians 3:15 of God's Word says, "Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace." Notice, it says the peace of Christ should rule in your hearts. The word rule also means to judge - the one who awards the prize. In essence, let the peace of Christ be the umpire in your heart. As you make each day's choices, you need some way to decide what should be safe and what should be out. God says to let the peace of Christ decide.
This peace comes as you bring a choice to God. Come to Him with a blank piece of paper and say, "God, You know what I would like, but I'm not going to give You a contract to sign. This is my blank piece of paper. What do You want?" As you pray it through, you will find that one way or one road feels right most of the time. This is not rushed prayer. You must have time to let God put His thoughts into your heart. As you get off your knees and start to go through the day, the peace of Christ is going to be challenged by lots of other voices, like the umpire challenged by all those people in the stands. God's will starts to seem a little less clear.
You can tune your "peace meter" to hear and receive the peace of Christ. Colossians 3:16 says, "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly." You need to have some increased time in God's Word and memorize some verses. Read whenever you can, looking for a personal word from the Lord. The more you are full of God's Word, the more material God has to work with in giving you His personal guidance. His peace and His Word always go together.
Human umpires are right some of the time, but God's umpire is right all the time. Offer your choices to the Lord, and ask for His peace as the confirming signal in your heart. Listen to that sense you have of a divine "okay" or a divine "forget it." God's peace is His wonderful way of calling safe or out, and you will always win if you go along with your personal umpire!