Some people think about the best life as an enchanted reality where it takes no effort to achieve your dreams. A life where your dreams fall into your lap magically.

Photo Credit: Public Domain via Pixabay

If that is your definition of the best life, this post will offend you. In fact, I believe that such an experience would leave you empty. If life doesn’t ask you to contribute to a larger cause, you are missing your design. We were designed to work. It is one of the first things God commissioned us to.

These following points about the best life, are my starting point for creating and living the best life. It is where I start the process from in my mind and heart. They are by no means complete, and yet they serve as somewhat of a foundation to the best life we were meant to live.

Living your best life includes recognizing the reality of sin

If there is no recognition of sin in your life and in the world around us, you are blinded to the real purpose God intended you for. Sin isn’t sin because God simply decided to limit us. Sin is sin because it destroys us and it takes away from what we were created for.

God created us. He knows how we are designed. He knows how we function best. He knows what makes us happy and joyful. He knows what brings us purpose and fulfilment. He knows how we love and how we receive love. He designed us. He wired us. He created us. And sin is that which diminishes and destroys that awesomeness God intended for us.

Your best life starts by recognizing Christ as Lord of your life

I know, this isn’t the most popular thing to say. And yet it is the truth. Living your best life involves an honesty that recognizes sin in your life and deals with it. But it doesn’t stay at the recognition that there is sin in our lives. It goes one step further and takes God’s promise seriously. The promise where He says He will forgive us our sins if we confess them.

He provided a way of redeeming us. Jesus came down and gave His life on the cross so that we might live. So we might live abundant lives. Joy filled lives. Blessed lives, where rivers of living water spring up from inside of us. And your best life starts by accepting that provision, by shedding your guilt and condemnation at the the foot of the cross.

Your best life is about recognizing the purpose of your design

Before Adam and Eve sinned and got booted from the Garden of Eden, God created mankind for a purpose. He created them in His image so He could have fellowship with them. And He created them to have fellowship with each other. Everything else we do, grows out of that design.

We work for the purpose of loving God or each other. Whether it is music or art that pleases God or man, or designing awesome architecture. Or maybe it is coming up with another cure to help alleviate people’s suffering. We were created in the image of God, and as such, we partner with God in being all things He is. God is love, so we love. God is THE Provider, so we provide for each other. God is THE Creator, so we create beautiful things. If it is in God’s nature, He has created some of that partnering in His nature into our nature. In the image of God.

Your best life is about loving God and loving others

Jesus says that if we have loved God and loved others we have fulfilled the entire law. And yet, when we ask people what love is, they stammer, and hee-haw in their answers trying to define love. A look at the Ten Commandments gives you a great start at defining love.

You love God by setting time aside for Him and by worshipping Him alone, and by not using His name in vain. And you love your neighbour by not stealing from him, by not lying about him. And sleeping with his wife, or killing him just is not that great a way to love your neighbour either. And you love your mom and dad by honouring them. This is the basics of love. The Holy Spirit will teach love upon that.

Your best life is about living your God-given purpose.

And for every human being born since He created Adam and Eve, He has designed them with specific skills and talents to fulfil that design. You were created fearfully and wonderfully. Scriptures say that God designed you before dad’s sperm hit mom’s egg. He already designed what was to be you. You are not an accident.

And your design will be unique. God designed you to be you. God really isn’t all that much into copies. Not sure why we humans tend to think uniformity is godliness. As far as I can tell, uniformity is mostly an evil replacement for unity. You can be sure that you will have a unique mixture of God-traits in your make-up. So set out to discover them. It will set you on course for your best life.

Your best life can only be achieved by the power of the Holy Spirit

Jesus says it is better for us if He goes away, because then He will send His Holy Spirit to live in us. Maybe you are like me and have found yourself wishing that Jesus was still here on earth so you could go see Him. That is really an admission that we have not yet believed what He says about the Holy Spirit.

If we receive the Holy Spirit as Jesus intended, we will find it is better than if He was still here on earth with us. I don’t know about you, but that is one staggering thought to me. It makes me hungry to know the Holy Spirit better. And Jesus promises that if we ask for the Holy Spirit, He will give us the Holy Spirit. So I am going to continue asking for more of the Holy Spirit’s reign in my life!