Who Are You Living For?

You want to be liked and admired, don’t you? It hurts if someone makes fun of you or criticizes you. Even if you don’t really care what others think, you want to feel good about yourself.

Wait a minute! Is life all about you and me, and how we feel about ourselves? Is it about what we can do or how smart we are? Why are we alive anyway? Because God created us. He has a plan for our lives so that we can know Him and live right. Because He is God, what He thinks is most important. Even if others don’t think so.

You see, life isn’t all about fitting in or having fun. It is a war zone. A war between right and wrong. When you are in a home where right things are encouraged, you have an easier time obeying. But still disobedient attitudes try to sneak up on you. That’s because you have an enemy, the devil, who wants to get you into trouble. One of his favorite tactics is to make you feel safe when “others are doing it.” Remember when you disobeyed because your friends did? Maybe you were afraid to obey because they would make fun of you. See how easy it is to get caught in the devil’s trap?

If you are going to live for God, you will have to fight for it. Jesus came to deliver us from sin so that we can live like He did. “Whosoever will come after me, let him deny [not please] himself, and take up his cross, and follow me,”* (Mark 8:34) Jesus said. Does that sound boring and hard… or scary? What will Jesus make you do if you agree to follow Him?

This sounds better: “Do what everyone else is doing. Live to please yourself and have fun. Then you’ll be happy!” That comes from the devil’s book of lies. He knows that if you live for yourself you’ll really be miserable inside, even if you are laughing and “having fun” with your friends. He makes you think that you are having your own way, when really you are the captive of sin. And if you are a worried about doing right, the devil says that all you have to do is try to fit in with other Christians. The more you dress, talk or act like them, the better you’ll be. Do you believe that?

Jesus didn’t try to fit in. He lived to please His Father, whether it made Him popular or not. In the end, Jesus willingly died because He loved His Father more than his own life. Because He humbled Himself to fulfill God’s perfect plan, God has highly exalted Him (Philippians 2:9). Think of it! Jesus is reigning as a King on a white horse, and He wants you to follow Him. God’s way may look foolish and worthless, but it doesn’t end up that way!

Are you listening to the devil’s lies? Who are you really living for—yourself, or God? If you read “Walter’s War” in this issue, you will meet a boy that asked himself these same questions. Though he lived a hundred years ago, his story shows the battle that we all have to face. What are you fighting for? Whose side are you on?