The Best Life

Live your best life. I am enough. Live your truth. I hear these declarations constantly. They have permeated culture and at first glance are what life seems to be about. I often see versions of these phrases in the comment sections or as the captions of social media posts intended to encourage the person posting to keep doing what they are doing. For example, a hiker who has summited a mountain might share a photo captioned, “Out here living my best life.” This type of cultural message has always made me a bit uncomfortable but, until now, I haven’t been able to pinpoint why. Before I can explore my discomfort, I need to first understand what these phrases mean. I acknowledge that the sources I chose to use to define these phrases are not traditionally seen as credible, but it seems that to understand what these mean in culture, the most appropriate place to look is on a site created by people living in this culture. I chose to use the first sources that came up in Google searches.

 Live your best life: “What does it mean to live my best life? It means to live up to my potential. Living up to my potential means doing “the things I hope to do someday” now instead of putting them off for some magical time in the future. Life is temporary, and I don’t want to wait to feel fulfilled (Halford, 2021).”

 I am enough: “I Am Enough’ means knowing that you are enough just as you are. By accepting that you are enough, you are able to love who you are. When you accept that you are good enough as you are, you can spend your time and energy on giving and receiving that which you deserve.” (Peer, 2021)

 Live your truth: “To live in your truth simply means to live as your most authentic self, doing things daily that bring you happiness and joy, living as true to yourself as possible.” (Cousins, 2021)

To my surprise, when I read these definitions, I agreed with almost all of what I found. There is nothing inherently wrong with doing things that make you happy or with accepting yourself. With that said, I feel that each concept misses the mark a bit as they neglect God and instead make life all about us. Culture is teaching us that we should focus on the things we want above all else. This stands in opposition to a life in which Christ is central, and it makes us into our own god. There is really only one BEST life. It’s not easy; it means giving up everything so that we can become more like Christ, but it is very good. This is exactly what Paul was talking about in Galatians 5:13-26

“13 You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh[a]; rather, serve one another humbly in love. 14 For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”[b] 15 If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.

16 So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever[c] you want. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

19 The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other” (Galatians 5: 13-26) (NIV).

In order to live a life centered on Christ, we must give up ourselves. As I reflect on my own life, I can identify times when my sole purpose for living was found in the one who created me. In those seasons, I experienced waves of joy and peace unlike anything I could possibly describe. When I am following the lead of the Spirit, I find the most contentment. Likewise, in the seasons of my life where I was focused on me, I find great emptiness.

The spring semester of my junior year of college was one of the times in which I was my own god. I was in a class where I was working to earn professional adventure certifications. I set an ambitious goal to earn three different certifications, two in canoeing and one in rock climbing. I spent all my time training so that I could succeed. I remember lying in bed awake, mentally practicing skills because I couldn’t turn off that part of my brain. My entire life’s purpose was centered on my success or marked by earning these certifications. As I reflect on this season, I realize what I sacrificed. I spent less time with friends and honestly have no memory of what God was doing in my life.  While I didn’t completely reach the goal that I had set, I achieved about 85-90% of it. When I think back on that semester, I remember having fun training, but I also remember feeling stressed and empty. It seemed like I was living my best life, because I was doing things that I genuinely enjoy, but my life had no real purpose.

Unlike the second semester of junior year, the first one marked one of the times that I was the closest to God. It was towards the end of the semester. I met some students who had decided to gather each night for a week to worship and pray over life on campus. I decided to join them in prioritizing my relationship with Christ over everything else, including my academics. I got to witness the Holy Spirit at work in and around me in ways unlike I had ever seen. That week is one of my favorites. The crazy thing is that I don’t remember doing anything for me. I went to class and I spent time with Jesus. (and my grades weren’t affected)  

My life has been a series of seasons of being my own god and allowing God to be God. When I am living for me, I might be happy. From the outside, I look like I am having fun and doing everything that I am supposed to do to find fulfillment. When I let Christ be central, I am actually fulfilled. In those seasons I am living the best life, finding the truth, and I am enough because He is enough. 

Works Cited

Bible gateway passage: Galatians 5 - new international version. Bible Gateway. (n.d.). Retrieved March 12, 2022, from https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Galatians+5&version=NIV

Cousins, C. (2021, February 17). Living in your truth, and finding your authentic self. The Journal Life. https://www.thejournallife.co.uk/blog/live-in-your-truth-and-be-your-most-authentic-self.

Halford, M. (2021, July 20). Create the life you desire now instead of someday. Live My Best Life. https://livemybestlife.com/.

Peer, M. (2021). What does i am enough mean? marisapeer.com. https://help.marisapeer.com/en_us/what-does-i-am-enough-mean-ryzOCQlg_.