WHO ARE YOU LIVING FOR? by Precious C Philip

I realized that many Christians today are living for either of these six things: the society, self, friends, parents, spouse/lover, or the devil. Only few are living for God. It is a sad thing because Christians are expected to live for only one cause: to please God. To please God requires that you live for Him. Living for God is living a life that brings ultimate pleasure and glory to God through total obedience to His commandments revealed in the Holy Bible. It is living a life free from sin, worldliness, carnality and immorality. 

The Scripture speaks about this kind of life in 1 Corinthians 10:31. It says: "So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God." When whatever we do brings glory to God, we're ultimately living for God. When our actions, our behavior, our attitude, our speech, and all we do bring pleasure to God, we are living for God. Dear reader, are you living for God? Not all Christians are living for God. Some are living for the society, some are living for their parents or children, some are living for their friends, some are living for the devil, some are living for themselves, some are living for their spouse, and some unmarried Christians are living for their lover. Which category do you fall into?

The truth of the matter is: who you live for you, you automatically live to please. Christians who live for the society, live to please the society. They avoid standing against the society; they stand with the society. They only do what the society okays or says is right. Society determines right and wrong for them, the Bible does not define rightness and wrongness for them. So even though the Bible says sex before marriage is wrong, since the society says sex before marriage is okay - they engage in it. Their standard for living is framed by the society. Christians who live for self, live to please themselves, so they give amoral attitude to life. They do just what makes them feel good and "happy", even if it is wrong. Christians who live for their parents, live to please their parents and do their bidding, even when their counsel, request or demand violates God's word. For instance, marrying another wife for procreation, engaging in rituals and using charms, getting pregnant before marriage etc. Married Christians who live for their spouse and Single Christians who live for their lover, live to please them at the expense of disobeying God and His commandments. They give in to their partner's request for premarital sex or demand for pregnancy before marriage. Christians who live for their friends, live to please their friends. They act on what their friends say is right or wrong, not what the Bible says is right or wrong. They receive ungodly counsel and advice from their friends and follow them to indulge in immorality. They'll rather offend God and rebel against His commands than to offend their friends. They'll rather lose God than lose their friends. Christians who live for the devil, live to please him by practicing immorality and rejecting righteous living. But Christians who live for God, live to please God by obeying His commands and instructions.

Living for God does not come automatically the moment a person is born again. No! Otherwise every born again Christian will be living for God. Living for God is a personal responsibility. After being born again, you must personally and consciously decide to live for God, receiving power from the Holy Spirit daily to live such life. 1 Peter 4:1-11 guides us on how to live for God. Take time to carefully study it today. When you heed the instructions given in that scripture, you'll easily live a life that brings glory to God as verse 11 of that scripture assures us, which is what living for God is all about.

So finally, as children of God, as born again Christians, we are commanded by God to live for His glory and to please Him in all that we do. It is His expressed will for man to live for Him on earth. But we cannot live for God by our own strength except by the power of the Holy Spirit living in every born again Christian. Thus, we must consciously and daily receive help from the Holy Spirit to live for God on earth.

You might ask, is living for God really that important? Well, Jesus revealed in Matthew 7:21 that it is, by saying, “Not everyone who calls me their Lord will get into the kingdom of heaven. Only those who actually do the will of my Father in heaven will enter." Therefore, only those who lived for God while on earth will be allowed entrance into God's kingdom because they're the ones who did the will of God on earth. You cannot do the will of God if you're not living for God, and you cannot live for God and not do the will of God.

Who are you living for?

Remember, only those who live for God on earth will be granted entrance into God's heavenly kingdom.

Action: Pray and ask God to forgive you if you've not been living for Him as a born again child of God, and ask Him to rekindle and fuel the desire in you to live for Him. Receive grace and power from the Holy Spirit to henceforth live for God on earth.