not the way you live, but why you live.

So today I had one of those light bulb moments in which God spoke to my heart. The thought occurred to me that it is not about the way you live, but rather why you live. What I am learning is that being a person of God does not mean you have to change who you are and what you do. You see if God wanted us to be something different than who we are, wouldn't He have made us that way?

It often seems that being a christian, or a believer in your God, for that matter, means that you have to "be good" or "be like them"! The truth is that God loves you exactly for who you are and in fact He made you that way on purpose. He is, however, a jealous God and wants to be first in your life. That does not mean He wants to be the only, just the first. In fact, God loves you so much that He wants to provide many things to you and pour out his blessings in your life. He wishes that you could handle those things and keep Him above all. I catch myself every day forgetting about who God is and what he has blessed me with. For that reason, God has to either remind me or limit what He gives me. God doesn't want me to stop selling real estate or doing business, at least for now. God wants me to do business for God. Its about spreading His word, sharing the Gospel with more people, and extending His grace to everyone possible.

Yesterday in church they talked about living your life for God. They talked about how the artists need to work their hardest to paint the most amazing pictures to share the beauty God has created. The called the musicians to play beautiful songs and remind the world how great His creations are. They called me and you to change, not how we live, but why. With this mentality we become a better city, a better nation, a better people. We become brothers and sisters, neighbors and friends.

The call is not for us to change our lives or change who are but to understand why we are who we are and live that out in our everyday lives. It is no coincidence that last weekend I started thinking about how I need to reconnect with a good friend that is one of the strongest followers of God I know. Of course, being distracted by everything that is around me, I put it off. No joke, today I received an email from him after I already started writing this post. The email, of course, was about individuality and how God wants us to be exactly as He made us. That to me is mind blowing that God is aware of what is going on in my head and meets me in that exact place. #PraiseGod

The good news is that you and I can continue to be who we are. We can continue to
live out our lives and only need to alter the reason we live. Being a follower of God does not mean we have to be perfect or be a certain way. The bible tells us that we are in fact shackled by our sin and that through God we become free to be who we really are!

"Everyone who sins is a slave to sin" ~ John 8:34

"If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free" ~John 8:31-32

Think about it!
-EC