How do you perceive living life for God? Do you see it as you have to give up a bunch of stuff that you like? Do you see it as having to be perfect in all that you do? Do you see it as sacrificing your wants for what God wants? I think that many of us take on a wrong perspective of what it means to live life for God. Instead of seeing it for what we gain, we see it for what we have to give up. Yes we will need to give up some stuff but we will gain something much better in return.

We think that because we like doing something and we are not experiencing any kind of consequence for doing it that it is good or us to do it. We think that if it feels good then it is good. But that is not always the case. Just because we enjoy doing something does not mean that it is not causing harm to us. We don’t understand why God is telling us to give up something that isn’t causing anybody any harm and we enjoy doing it. We think that if it is not a sin then it is no big deal. But just because what we are doing isn’t a sin, isn’t harming anyone, and it is pleasurable to us doesn’t mean that it is good for us. And that is why God tells us to stop doing it.

God knows the beginning from the end, therefore he already knows how things will have an effect on us in the long run. He knows what we will be like years from now if we continue to do or not do certain things. He also knows how we can be and that is why He won’t leave us alone about things that we need to do differently. He isn’t trying to make us miserable. He is actually trying to free us from misery. He is trying to lead us into a life that we could never imagine could be filled with so much peace, joy, love, contentment, wholeness, and prosperity.

On the other hand the enemy also knows what kind of effects doing certain things will have on us and that is exactly why he puts the temptations in us. He knows that if he puts the strong desire of doing something in us that between the desire and our natural human nature we are more likely to do it instead of what God is leading us to do. For example, let’s say that you are being lead by God to lose a few pounds. Well you all of the sudden have unusual desires for chocolate cake. You have serious cravings for it. Then you go to the store to pick up a few things and every thing chocolate seems to jump out at you and that desire for it becomes even stronger. You end up picking up the twin pack of chocolate cupcakes up by the checkout and make the excuse that it is only a small snack and it’s not like it is a whole cake. But those 2 cupcakes have over 300 calories and tons of fat grams and sugar so it is not helping you lose weight at all. So the enemy has won at his attempt to keep us from what God is leading us to do and what’s best for us.

God only leads us to do things that are in the best interest of us. He wants us to shine and to flourish in life. He wants us to be at peace, happy, prosperous, motivated, and pleased with ourselves. Isn’t that what you also want for yourself? When we decide to live for God we are deciding to live our best life. Because God only wants what is best for us, and He knows what needs to be done in order for that to happen, it is only wise that we do what He leads us to do. Even if we don’t want to or don’t understand why we need to do it at the moment. Just because we can do something does not mean that it is in our best interest to do it. Surrendering to God and doing life with him is the way to being our best selves and living our best life. If we are asked to give up anything it will only be because there is something even better in store for us. So have you had a different perspective than this and if so it’s time to switch your perspective and start your journey to better living.