Living the Good Life

"Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody."

- 1 Thessalonians 4:11-12 / NASV

Why do you think we have come to a time when so many people are unhappy, living lives of disappointment, brokenness and ungodliness?  It is easy for us to shake our heads and blame it on sin and their forgetting God, but what do we do when that person is us?  The truth is, so many live broken lives because they have forgotten how to live the good life.

                We as Christians are here not just to tell people about Jesus but to show them Jesus.  Being a godly person is more than going to church, saying grace before meals and not going out on a drunken terror.  We are to be an example of what it means to be a Christian and how it is possible, even in this broken and sinful word, to live a life that is good, wholesome and right.

                Christians face two problems here, one is that we really do not believe that it is possible to live a good, wholesome, and enjoyable life that is right and good.  It is a nice idea; and we will talk about striving for it, but we too think it is a make believe, Ozzie & Harriet kind of idea.  Secondly, because we do not really believe it is possible we talk more than we act.  As Mark Twain said, "When all is said and done, more is said than done."

                You can have the life that so many of us desire.  The instructions are there in God's word.  We can live lives of love, peace and contentment.  It is not what we don't do that makes the difference, it is what we believe and do every day.  Don't sell yourself short and think the good life is a myth, show the world it is a reality in your life.  That will say far more than your words ever will.

                Always remember that you matter to the world.  God placed you here to make a difference and that difference is good.  You possess the qualities of a real success-minded person, which are to: Be your best.  Love God.  Have good manners. Discover the unknown.  Change the world.

John Patrick Hickey is an author, speaker, and Life Coach. To read more from John Patrick Hickey or to get his books, training and book him to speak to your church, business or group, visit our website at http://www.growthcenter.net or www.johnpatrickhickey.com.   © 2014 John Patrick Hickey