The Good Life

The Good Life: Go to college. Get a good job doing something you love to do. Make a lot of money. Be a good person. Do what you want. Do what makes you happy. 

I never really doubted that these were some of the most important things to value in life until I met some people who had a lot less money and a lot less access to education than me. It got me thinking. It seemed to me that whatever is most important in life should be universally accessible. It should be something that every person can attain. Even if they are not wealthy. Or healthy. Or very smart.  

Honestly, I didn't get any further in that thought process for several years. But the discrepancy stuck with me. There must be something better to value in life if what I value most isn't something that everyone can attain/achieve/receive. In the meanwhile, I fell back on the values I was raised with. I worked on my college degree and tried to figure out which career path would make me the happiest. Which classes would make me the happiest. Which apartments, friendships, relationships would make me the happiest. Which grad school would make me the happiest. Frankly, it was all kind of stressful. (And in retrospect, completely self-centered). I mean, what if I made the wrong choice at any point and didn't end up as happy as I could have been? 

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I was raised Catholic. I always believed in God and trusted God, but I never understood the bit about Jesus. I mean, if God was God and all-powerful and everything, who was this Jesus guy and why did he have to come and die and why the heck would we praise him when there was an all-powerful God to pray to and stuff? Seriously, this was my thought process as a 10 year old. 

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Now that I know Jesus... I've been humbled (a little bit, at least). The Holy Spirit showed me that even if I think I'm a lot better than a lot of people, in His eyes, I am no better than a murderer, and adulterer, or a thief (without Jesus). It's kind of like looking down on the earth from the moon. Whereas on earth, the mountains appear to be so much higher than the depths of the sea, from a galactic perspective, the seemingly great difference becomes utterly irrelevant.

[I had some panic about this for awhile. Once I realized I wasn't so great, I wondered, what if God didn't save me? To stand convicted and realize God's great salvation, and to believe that you may not receive it is horrifying. Condemned is a truly terrible place to be. Thankfully, some nice folks explained to me that the Holy Spirit brings conviction, and it is the Devil who brings condemnation. There was a spiritual battle going on, and I was able to fight through it.]

Now that I know Jesus and have accepted what he has done for me, I'm a lot less anxious. I have true peace and an anchor for my soul. Sure, I can still get worked up about things, but my identity is no longer in what I do or how I do it, who my friends are or my credentials etc. etc. etc. I am free to be honest with myself and with God because I know he already knows me completely. I have a well of forgiveness to draw upon, because I know how much God has already forgiven me. I have an eternal perspective and identity. No matter what I do, I know God loves me. I know that, as a good Father, God wants me to grow and mature and overcome sin and selfishness, and I have the promise that He will help me do this (Philippians 1:6). I know I have life in Jesus, through whom all things were made, because where God once saw sin and separation from Him, He now sees Jesus' perfect life, sacrifice, and love for me. I know that God is my provider, so I can work from a place of rest and worship. I know that God created me and has a purpose for me, and I find joy every time I get a glimpse of this. I'm not afraid of death, because I know that I have eternal life to look forward to where all of creation will be free to do our truest and most joyful work of worshiping God.

This good life I have found is in almost complete opposition to the 'good' (self-centered, self-seeking) life I used to strive for. And in an unexpected way, it's so much better. (And, hey, it's definitely more universally accessible!)

And you know what? God wants this for you, too. And Jesus already lived and died and was raised for this purpose in your life, too. He wants to give you a new life and a new identity as a child of God, in love, as a free gift. I hope you'll consider and accept it. He already accepts you. He wants you to accept him, too.

"And [Jesus] died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again." 2 Corinthians 5:15 

God... wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all people. This has now been witnessed to at the proper time. And for this purpose I was appointed a herald and an apostle—I am telling the truth, I am not lying—and a true and faithful teacher of the Gentiles. 1 Timothy 2:4-7

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What do you think? What is the good life you are striving for? What is your identity? What do you hope in? Can you explain the gospel in your own words?

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Let me know if you have any questions.