Living Your Best Life!
You don’t have to retire from all those years of labor to begin living your best life. Many of us have visions of a better tomorrow, a future where we will except is more, or find a career that we actually love, make more money, have more feee time and so forth. If you’re reading this, it is because you want more and you suspect you’re capable of more. You have hopes and dreams and you’re ready to create the life you want. Jesus lived and died to give us this gift of abundant life. So how do we go about receiving it? We see the need to change direction in our lives, the need for forgiveness for past sins, and the need to start down the path of discipleship with Jesus. But that is only the beginning. The next part is the “following” part, the “imitating Jesus” part. We begin to realize that there is left in our life a root of sin, from time to time we act unchristian, and we know that there must be more that God has for us than what we have. So what actually is our best life and how do we live it?
The most important word in the phrase “Living your best life” is “your.” Strip away the Instagram filters and look at your own values objectively and with honesty. Figure out what’s most important to you, what matters on an achievable level and go from there. What do you need to do to be satisfied with your life? Once you’ve figured that out, set some goals. Hate your busy city life? Then make time on the weekends to escape to the country. You’re not energized by your career? Well, do something about it. Take tiny steps to inject things you like into your workplace, set new goals, talk to your boss about new responsibilities, or look for something new. Take a class, learn a skill, take up a new sport or hobby — everything is within your control. Ask God to take a certain habit away, to prune away a particular behavior and as God takes away those undesirable traits in your life, ask Him to fill those now-empty spaces with His love, His “likeness,” and His presence. It is then that we find ourselves living out loud the best versions of ourselves. I believe we should be living life to its fullest, which is the life God intended for each of us to have and the life for which Jesus died. There is no reason to ever be ashamed of where you are in life. Not when you’re doing your best. Not when you’re in your best moment. There’s always gonna be people to tell you “No.” Or “You can’t.” Or “you shouldn’t.” Or even that it’s just not in your cards. No matter what anybody says, you have to have the mindset that saids, “They may not see my potential but I’m still doing this and I will give it my best.” Defy the odds. Take chances, take risks, try to appreciate the things you do have and surround yourself with people who bring out the best in you. Sometimes our happiest moments are among the most mundane made special by those they’re shared with. Don’t hinge your happiness on things you think will impress others — that’s not living your best life. That’s only living someone else’s idea of it. This is the life that you can claim today.
Why not you?
Excerpt from Breakthroughs and Bless You’s 100 Day Devotional Journal by Kara Barker available now!
