I grew up in the church of duty. Do right. Serve God. Do the right thing because it is what we must do. Being a Christ follower centered around all of the oughts and shoulds.
When I was in seminary I met people who believed that being a Christian was about something different. They thought we could and should all learn to celebrate God. I thought they were crazy. I argued with them.
Finally, I drank the cool-aid. It is an uphill fight for my brain, but I am trying to live my life based on joy and celebration rather than duty. It has been a long, slow change for me. Now people that are living their life the way I used to, well they think I am crazy.
I was thinking about all of this the other day and I realized that it all goes by so quickly. Life is so good, and so short. I wish I would have learned about celebrating our life with the Lord when I was younger. I wish it didn’t take so long to teach an old dog new tricks.
If you are reading this and you are still focusing mostly on being dutiful, I invite you to join the parade and get out there for the celebration. Here are ways that you can do that-
1. Rid yourself of inappropriate guilt
2. Stop thinking about how bad you are
3. Look at people. Smile at them and say something nice.
4. Take a long look at creation and thank the Creator.
5. Find one thing to be thankful for every day.
6. In every circumstance, practice seeing the good.
It’s a beautiful day in God’s world, be sure to see the good.
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