Christian Living
Enjoying Life
10For let him who wants to enjoy life and see good days [good--whether apparent or not] keep his tongue free from evil and his lips from guile (treachery, deceit).11Let him turn away from wickedness and shun it, and let him do right. Let him search for peace (harmony; undisturbedness from fears, agitating passions, and moral conflicts) and seek it eagerly. [Do not merely desire peaceful relations with God, with your fellowmen, and with yourself, but pursue, go after them!] 1 Peter 3:10-11 (AMP)
Worldwide, crossing every social and economic border, one thing you can probably find both Christians and non-Christians alike agreeing on is, we want to enjoy life. Where the unity in this starts to separate, or at least should, is in our view and approach. What precisely is your perception of enjoying life?
Of course immediately our thoughts turn to family. We greatly desire a godly marriage. We long for our children to have a relationship with the Lord. We want our loved ones to be saved.
Friends and fellowship are godly wants as well. Ample finances so that you don’t have to worry most likely, plays a role in enjoying life as well. Oh yes and to be healthy and fit, that wouldn’t hurt either.
I bet that most Christians will also tell you that they are hungry for a closer walk with the Lord.
I think we can all agree that most of these things can be found on all of our lists for enjoying life.
Then why are so many Christians miserable, struggling, depressed, giving up hope, divorcing, abusing, cheating, servants to lust, greed, manipulation, addiction, walking in doubt, worry and fear? And if this is the condition of the “Body of Christ”, what do you have to offer someone outside of the body?
If you are walking in these things and you think they are hidden, do not be deceived. Your life will continue to unravel until the truth that God sees is exposed! Why: Because He sees the real you hidden beneath the turmoil. He loves you enough to expose it in order to set you free from the things that are holding you captive. Willingly or unwillingly it’s going to happen.
Why? God wants you to enjoy life.
Peter reaffirms and lays out the guidelines for enjoying life in his letter. Much of what he speaks here; David had spoken of also, in Psalm 34.
First of all he says to keep your tongue from evil and your lips from guile, treachery or deceit.
Gossip. The Webster’s 1828 dictionary defines gossip as: One who runs from house to house, tattling and telling news; an idle tattler. [This is the sense in which the word is now used.] Wow! They had a problem with gossip in 1828? Read the Old Testament sometime, gossip has been around since then. Despite the warnings and admonitions throughout the Word, Old and New Testament alike, it is still a rampant part of Christian life.
Some Christians have become masters at gossiping by hiding behind the guise of, I want you to pray for so and so because… oh bless their heart…Give us all a break! The only difference between the Old Testament gossipers and that person is that they don’t have to run from house to house tattling, they can use the phone or Facebook now!
Please do not get gossip confused with a pure heart exposing sin in a brother through proper, Godly protocol. There is a difference.
Secondly Peter says we should turn away from wickedness, shun it and do right. Wickedness is defined as: Evil in principle or practice; deviating from the divine law; addicted to vice; sinful; immoral. Well, that should be easy enough to spot right? The problem, so often, isn’t the blatantly obvious wickedness that becomes the stumbling block. It’s the smaller things that we allow to creep in.
Well, I allow my daughter to dress like that because that’s how most girls in the youth group dress. That can’t be wrong, can it? I mean, the Pastor allows his daughter to shop there, and act like that so it must be alright for me. Really? That’s training them to be pure and holy women of God right? Someone whose value is placed on the condition of her heart? Wrong! You know it and you need to quit making excuses for it.
What about those “Christian” movies and TV programs? Oh, there is only a brief bit of nudity and just some slight insinuation, that can’t be avoided. Right? Are you actually paying money to contribute to your son or husbands battle with sexual purity? How’s your marriage? Do you wonder why? Are you shunning evil every time you are faced with it?
I live in on a farm. We have a load of animals, most of which are free range. I can assure you, I am trying to shun any kind of animal manure that would try to stick to my shoes when I walk out of the door! And Lord help me if it gets on my clothes! I am completely disgusted by it. Should I then not be at least as disgusted by the “manure” of the world, the evil and wickedness and shun it with all my energy? That is to do right!
Thirdly, search for peace (harmony; undisturbedness from fears, agitating passions, and moral conflicts) and seek it eagerly. This requires action on our part; eager action! I assure you that you cannot eagerly pursue this peace if you are holding onto ways of wickedness, evil, gossip, etc. They do not dwell together. God will not allow it. It is not His way.
Finally, Peter offers us this, Do not merely desire peaceful relations with God, with your fellowmen, and with yourself, but pursue, go after them!
Desire, in and of itself, to do something will get you nowhere. Think about this for a moment. Christians, not the world, are the ones with the wrist bands reminding them to “Walk the Walk” and not just “Talk the Talk”. That, in my opinion, is speaking volumes. People out there protesting for the right to have abortions don’t need wrist bands to remind them of their pursuit. Get my point?
The time has come for us to truly stand together, to offer a dying world hope. It does start with the house of God. It starts in your home, in your family and in your own personal choices. How can we build one another up where we ourselves lack individually? A baby step, each and every choice is an opportunity for you in your pursuit of “Enjoying Life”.
PLEASE ENCOURAGE AUTHOR BELOW LEAVE COMMENT ON ARTICLE
Reader Count & Comments
Date
The opinions expressed by authors do not necessarily reflect the opinion of FaithWriters.com. This is especially true with articles that
deal with personal healthcare and prophecy. We encourage the reader to make their own decision in consultation with God, His Word, and others as needed.
This article has been read 723 times < Previous | Next >
Read more articles by Marlo Wells or search for other articles by topic below.
This article has been read 723 times < Previous | Next >
Search for articles on: (e.g. creation; holiness etc.)
Read more by clicking on a link:Free Reprints
Main Site Articles
Most Read Articles
Highly Acclaimed Challenge Articles.
New Release Christian Books for Free for a Simple Review.
NEW - Surprise Me With an Article - Click here for a random URL
God is Not Against You - He Came on an All Out Rescue Mission to Save You
...in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them... 2 Cor 5:19
Therefore, my friends, I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you. Acts 13:38
LEARN & TRUST JESUS HERE
FaithWriters offers Christian reading material for Christian readers. We offer Christian articles, Christian fiction, Christian non-fiction, Christian Bible studies, Christian poems, Christian articles for sale, free use Christian articles, Christian living articles, New Covenant Christian Bible Studies, Christian magazine articles and new Christian articles. We write for Jesus about God, the Bible, salvation, prayer and the word of God.