What is your reason for living? Do you live to move up in this world? Do you to provide for your family? Do you live for guilty pleasures? Do you live for selfish reasons? What do you think people will say about your life when you die? Will they remember you fondly?
Reasons for living vary from person to person. But when we are asked to state our reason for living, it can be hard to quantify. We may have multiple reasons. We may not be able to put it into words. And many of us do not worry about what people will say about us when we die.
The Apostle Paul tells us we do not live to ourselves. We live to the Lord. The same is true for dying. We do not often think of it in this manner. For is we live to the Lord, we are continually seeking his guidance and seeking to live according to his will. Our desire is to follow him in all that we do. We love one another. We are compassionate. We are forgiving. We show mercy.
Living to the Lord is a different way of life. It is countercultural. It is a life of freedom. A freedom to love, forgive, be compassionate, and be merciful. Living to the Lord breaks chains we did not know we were entangled by. Every weight we are carrying is lifted from our shoulders. Living to the Lord is exactly what we all desire, whether we realize it or not.
I pray we all choose to love one another. I pray we choose to show compassion, mercy, and forgiveness. I pray each one of us will decide to live to the Lord and be set free. Love one another. Be compassionate. Be merciful. Be forgiving. Be set free. Live to the Lord.
Romans 14:7-8 For we do not live to ourselves, and we do not die to ourselves. If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord; so then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s.
Marty Pressey 