Day 207: Life Advice Part 2

Acts 17:25

nor is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all people life and breath and all things;

Job 33:4

"The Spirit of God has made me, And the breath of the Almighty gives me life.

I want to focus today on that fact that God blew breath into each and every one of us. The life He has given us is ours, the breath HE has given us is ours. It is our choice what we do with that life. For me I choose to live my life dedicated to Christ because after all He has done for me, it’s the least I can do.

Throughout the last six years of my life I have learned the valuable lesson that my life is mine, no one else's. No one else can live this life for me, no one else can control my my life. It’s mine and I get to choose how I live it. For a long time I lived my life for other people, not even God. Living and doing things because of expectations and fear of letting people down. When all along I was letting myself down and I was not living the way God planned for me to live. When I finally decided to live my life completely dedicated to Christ, that is when I started living for myself. I stopped letting people dictate what my life will look like and stop letting people tell me how to live. The only person to tell me how to live is God. The only person I owe my life to is Christ. Many times when people are  significant in our lives we feel like we owe them something. We feel like we have to live our lives for them because they played a huge role in us growing or taking care of us. This happens a lot of times with our parents or guardians, we feel like we have live our lives for them because they “gave us life”. Now I’m not telling you to disrespect or rebel against your parents, what I’m saying is that God gave us life, our parents were merely vessels He used them to bring us into this world. He trusted them with our life, He gave us to them to be taken care of and nurtured. Our parents teach us and raise us into the people we are today.

We only owe our life to God. I want to break this down a bit because right now it seems like two opposing sides. Do I love for myself or do I live for God? It’s a tough subject because we are taught to be selfless we are taught to give up our life to live for Christ. This is all true, as Christians we devote our lives to living for Christ, and we live every day of our lives with Christ. However, God has given us free will, so we must make this choice for ourselves, no one can force us to make it, it is our decision. I believe the best decision we can make for ourselves is choosing to live for God. Now this does not take away from our lives, it actually enhances our way of living and enhances our life. . Living our life for ourselves and living our life for God should not be separate.  

All this to say, this is your life, God has given it to you to live. I know their are people that we want to please and make proud and there is nothing wrong with wanting to make people proud. The only person we are here to please is God. The only person we have to dedicate our life to is Christ. You live your life for yourself and I mean this in a spiritual and natural way. Do whatever you need to do to make sure that your spiritual life is in tip top shape. But also in your everyday life, live for you. Enjoy your life, you only get one. God gave it to you, I’m sure He wants you to live it to the fullest. Don’t live your life allowing other people to dictate who you are and what you should do. You know who you are, you’ve found your identity in Christ. Live. This is your life. You get to choose how you live, and as long as your life lines up with the word of God you are good.   

Reflection

1. Do you allow others to dictate your life?
2. Are you living your life for someone else?
3. Make the decision to live your life for you.

Prayer Time

Allow your answers to the above questions guide your prayer. Talk to God about what we discussed today.

I love you and I hope you have an amazing day or evening. Be sure to share this with someone and have an open discussion. Make sure you come back tomorrow for Day 208!