To Live

I often wonder if people would treat each other differently, if, they knew they would die within the next 30 days, or, if, their words and actions were being recorded for others to hear and see, or would their response change, if, the person became powerful, famous, or rich.  But. My friend, who has finished a year of chemo and radiation, told me the diagnosis of cancer as well as the reality of some tough days did not give reason for everyone in her life to change their ways.

Ultimately the way we approach life changes from within ourselves, when we open ourselves up to something or someone, whether it is from good or evil, faith or fear, courage or despair, light or dark, hope or hopeless, life or death.  

The thing is . . . we must choose . . . who we are and how we will live.

To be defined by the living presence of Christ in us, is to choose to live life well, to intentionally follow the pattern of behavior and words of Jesus, regardless of what is going on, who is watching, listening, or spending time with us, or by the pressures and stress we experience. 

The choice to live for Christ takes the power out of every other choice in life.  We are freed to live in the more of God. Yes, there are times we may lose our focus, forgetting the value of living, the truth of what it means to live, becoming lost in the stuff we face.

Consider. 

For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain (Philippians 1:27, NLT).

Pause. Take a break and meditate on the four words, "to live is Christ."   When we choose to filter life through these specific four words, we leave the power of  every other choice behind, all things become new, loss gives way to gain.

Live.  Christ.

Learning to Kickstart the day, believing to live is Christ,
Kerrie

(written by Kerrie Carlisle Palmer © 2011 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED)