Closing · The Contrast
Two Lives.
One Choice.
One feels good at first and until you no longer feel it and have to find something else to fill its place. The other begins with surrender, and never stops filling you up.
Path 1
The World
Path 2
Christ
Identity
Built on what you achieve. Moves every time you do.
Identity
Constant. Doesn't move when you fail or when you fall.
Worth
Goes up with the win. Down with the loss.
Worth
Already settled. You're his, that doesn't change.
Purpose
Receive praise. Be seen. Get the next title.
Purpose
Be the hands and feet of Christ. Live for something bigger than you.
Fulfillment
The next thing. Then the next. Never enough.
Fulfillment
The backwards kingdom where giving and serving fills you.
When you fall
You're nothing. The thing you built on is gone.
When you fall
Someone is already there to lift you up. You've been redeemed.
The Honest Part
Finding meaning in life comes from finding your identity and purpose in Christ. You were made for a purpose, so live for Jesus and find out what that is. His name is Jesus.
What This Looked Like For Me
I built my whole identity on athletic performance. If I performed, I was somebody. If I didn't, I thought my whole world was ending.
Then I tore my labrum. The thing I had built my identity on was gone. And I realized something. Without my performance, without my achievements, I was nothing. That's what the world had given me. A self that disappeared the moment I couldn't perform.
When I put my identity in Christ, it didn't waver. It's still there whether I fail or mess up. It doesn't depend on what I do. It depends on whose I am.
The Backwards Kingdom
You're filled by giving, not getting.
In the world, you fill yourself by getting more. In the kingdom, it's flipped. Serving people. Putting them before yourself. Spending your time on what God cares about. Helping the ones who feel overlooked, the ones who feel empty. All of these lead to find meaning in your life.
Which path will you walk Dr. Lavender? (I'm kidding)