Carlisle Jodi - Living a life you love: embracing the adventure of being led by the Holy Spirit

What do you love? I mean really love?

If youre like most people, you may say, I love my family, I love my spouse, my friends, my church, or even I love the Lord. And then there are the more temporal things we all enjoy, like, I love my house, I love a good dinner at a nice restaurant, I love a great cup of coffee, I love to go shopping, and I certainly love a well-timed vacation.

These are all great things and make perfectly reasonable answers. We love and appreciate the people and things in our lives that bring a measure of contentment and happiness.

But Ive discovered that very few people would answer, Joyce, I absolutely love my life. Most of us are more frustrated with our lives than we are at peace with them. Very few people live lives full of joy, excited to wake up each day, and filled with wonder at what God might do next. I believe a good question for all of us to ask ourselves is, Am I merely enduring my life, trying to make it through each day, or do I truly love it?

If you dont love your life, then you should do something to change it. It may require a change of attitude or perspective. It may require getting a new career or even moving to a new city, and it may require getting some new friends and learning to see yourself the way God does. There are things we can do to ensure that we will love our life. After all, we only get one life, and we should love it and live it with enthusiasm and zeal.

I want to mention a very important thing right here in the beginning, and that is that we should never compare our life with anyone elses, because doing so often causes us to not love our own life fully and joyfully. It is your life that I want to teach you to love. It is the only one you have, and God will not give you anyone elses, so how about taking what youve been given and doing the most you can with it?

The daily grind often wears us down. The bills pile up, the calendar gets too full, the diet doesnt seem to be working, the traffic is infuriating, the doctors report is troubling, the children are not behaving, the job is exhaustingand to top it all off, that darn kitchen faucet is dripping again!

These irritations (and so many others just like them) too often cause us to survive life rather than actually enjoy it. I can picture many of you nodding along in agreement as you read these words life can be challenging, to say the least. But everyones life is challenging in some way at times, and that is why wanting someone elses life is pointless. You may find that it is easier to deal with your problems than it would be to deal with theirs.

But you can become a person who says: I love my life. We can face challenges, deal with frustrations, have less than pleasurable circumstances, and still love our lives.

I think about the examples we see in the Bible:

David dealt with giants, opposing armies and a father who favored his brothers over him, and yet he wrote: You will show me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy; in Your right hand there are pleasures forevermore (Psalm 16:11).

Solomon had the pressures of building the Temple and running a kingdom, and yet he said: Every man should eat and drink and see and enjoy the good of all his laborit is the gift of God (Ecclesiastes 3:13).

The apostle Paul faced shipwrecks, a physical ailment, constant criticism, and persecution, but he told us: I have learned to be content [and self-sufficient through Christ, satisfied to the point where I am not disturbed or uneasy] regardless of my circumstances (Philippians 4:11).

Mary would give birth in a barn after traveling in extreme conditions, and yet she said: From now on all generations will count me blessed and happy and favored by God! (Luke 1:48).

These men and women faced difficulty, challenges, opposition, and frustrations at various times, but they were able to look past that and live lives full of joy and contentmentthey learned the secret of loving their lives!

What I want to share with you in the pages of this book has come from years of personal Bible study and lots of personal experience. You see, there was a time in my life when I lived stuck in frustration, anger, and insecurity. Because of the abuse I endured at the hands of my father as a child, I had many issues to work through as an adult. I had anger problems, I was easily discouraged, I compared myself to people around me, and I drove myself to the point of exhaustion trying to accomplish my goals. I loved God, I loved teaching His Word and I loved my friends and family, but I couldnt really say I loved my life. I continually wanted and searched for an elusive something else that I thought would satisfy the longing in my soul, but somehow it always evaded me.

But God has taught me so much over the years. It wasnt always easyI certainly made my fair share of mistakes along the waybut I can confidently say today that I love the life God has given me. I dont love it because it is perfect, but because it is a gift from God.