How to Live Your Life Appropriately

 

Are you happy you have the ability to go to church and worship the living God?  Are you thankful you have two legs to walk on that will carry you to church?  Do you appreciate any of the blessings you have received?

 

Because there are many people who would give anything to have the opportunities you have.  There are many people who wish they had 2 legs to walk on… there are many people who wish they had 2 ears to hear… there are many people who wish they had 2 eyes to see… and there are many people wish they had the opportunity to go to church.  But because there legal system does not permit them to, or because there parents do not allow them to, or because they are scared their friends would abandon them if they went, they choose not to go to church.  As a result, they miss out on the blessings and opportunities are obtainable through Christ.

 

The world teaches us many things.  For example, the world teaches us it is acceptable for a man to repay evil with evil.  However, Jesus instructs us to repay evil with good.  The world teaches us money is everything.  It says, “money is valuable, money controls your degree of happiness, and money determines who you are.”

 

But Jesus says, “Money is not everything, money is not valuable, money does not control your degree of happiness, and money does not determine who you are.”  Rather, Jesus says, “God is everything, God is valuable, your relationship with God controls your degree of happiness, and your relationship with God determines who you are.”

 

This difference promotes a problem because absolutely everything the world teaches us is totally contradictory to the Word of God.  To put it differently, the world and God have opposite viewpoints… they are nothing similar… and they have nothing in common.  Hence, if you are a Christian then you are in complete and total opposition to the world.  The world hates you.  Everything you want, the world hates, and everything the world wants, you despise.

 

“Why is this?” you ask.

 

Because as a follower of Jesus, you are different from the world.

 

As a result of this difference, it is not uncommon that one does not understand how to deal with his/her life appropriately.  They do not understand how to live as a Christian in this world, but not engage in the sins of this world.

 

Therefore, I will give you two guidelines to follow in order to manage your Christian life appropriately.

  

Guideline # 1

In view of the Apostle Paul’s influential words found in Philippians chapter 3 of the Holy Bible, Paul quotes, “Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it.  But one thing I do: forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead.  I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”

 

In other words, guideline number one is: TO FORGET WHAT IS BEHIND YOU AND PRESS ON TOWARDS THE GOAL THAT IS AHEAD OF YOU.

 

Considering this, we have all done things for which we are ashamed, but that is no reason for us to dwell in our past and continue living our lives full of stress, guilt, and anxiety resulting from out past mistakes that we CAN’T CHANGE.  Instead, because our hope is in Jesus, we can release all past guilt and shame and look forward to becoming the NEW CREATION God intends for us to be.

 

However, I realize letting go of all past pain is often a difficult task for one to achieve, but when we grow in the knowledge of God and realize we are forgiven, we are then capable of moving on to a life of faith and obedience.  Once this transformation occurs, we can obtain a fuller and more meaningful life because our hope is in Christ Jesus.

  

Guideline # 2

In Psalm 37:4, the author, David, instructs us, “Delight yourselves in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your hearts.”  Therefore, guideline number two is: TO DELIGHT YOURSELF IN THE LORD.

 

In other words, David calls us to commit everything we have to God.  This means our time, our money, our talents, our achievements, our hearts, our souls, and our minds.  To put it differently, everything we own should be dedicated unto the Lord out of reverence for God.  We need to commit our lives to the Lord and trust in Him alone to care for our needs.

 

We are no longer subjected to the burdens of this world when we allow God to run our lives.  All pain, anguish, anxiety, fear, resentment, and frustration will be released when we surrender our hearts to God.  Our worries and concerns can be forgotten because God has become the delight of our lives.  To put it differently, He has become our utmost priority.

 

He is our Lord and He is our Savior.  Without Him, we will amount to nothing.  Our lives remain utterly meaningless without God because He is the substance that fills our voids.  He becomes the joy that fills your heart, but only if you allow Him to be the delight of your life.

 

I promise you, “If you follow these 2 guidelines, then you will manage your Christian life appropriately in the midst of this sinful world.”

 

May God be with you!