I Long to Live Well
Yesterday I blogged about how I awoke Longing to Love Well. Today I awoke longing to live well.
The Greatest Sermon Ever Preached
By “well” I mean that I long to live a pure, holy, Christlike life. Here’s how Jesus said it in the greatest sermon ever preached:
“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” (NIV).
“But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you” (KJV).
The Greatest Exchange Ever Made
I am eternally grateful that Christ lived well—perfectly righteously—on my behalf.
“God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Cor. 5:21).
The Greatest Power Ever Experienced
We don’t have to live a righteous live to be saved—Christ lived that life for us. However, once we are saved, the new person we are in Christ longs to live a righteous life. And, God’s Spirit who indwells us, empowers us to live an increasingly Christlike life.
“Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit” (2 Cor. 3:17-18).
Just as I was struck by the fact that I have a lot—a LOT—of growing to do regarding loving well, so I know I have a lot—a LOT—of growing to do regarding living well. I want to decreasingly long for that which is impure, worldly, fleshly, selfish, and ungodly. I want to increasingly long for that which is pure, holy, spiritual, selfless, and Christlike.
The Greatest Changed Ever Made
Finally, I was struck by the realization that longing to live well is what separates the person with a new heart (the regenerate person) from the person with an old heart (the unsaved person). Apart from Christ we awake each morning longing to be happy, not holy. Without Christ, we long to satisfy our flesh, not glorify the Father through the Spirit.
The Greatest Testimony Ever Known
The greatest argument for Christ is the new nature of the Christian. Rather than awakening each morning with a longing for self-centered satisfaction and selfish pleasure, God’s Spirit empowers us to awaken each morning with a longing to love others and to glorify God.
No one can awake longing to love and live well unless that longing has been awakened by Christ.
Join the Conversation
What did you awake longing for this morning? Tomorrow morning?
