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Tis the season for watching Frank Capra’s 1946 movie, It’s a Wonderful Life, and being reminded that the choices we make throughout our lives matter.
I have to admit that when I started watching this movie for the first time, I thought it was kind of depressing and wondered why it was considered a Christmas classic.
It’s about a guy named George Bailey (played by Jimmy Stewart) who is unable to realize his own dreams because he keeps helping others who are in need.
He keeps doing the right thing out of perceived obligation but carries a sad resentfulness that he has somehow missed out on what could’ve been his best life.
I’m not going to spoil the movie for you, just in case you want to watch it.
It has a good message, but its perspective is incomplete in God’s grand scheme of things.
The last time I watched it, the thought occurred to me, “A lot of Christians are like George Bailey.”
They are serving God, helping others in need, and always trying to do the right thing out of a sense of perceived obligation.
I lived like that for years—before I understood the finished work of Christ.
I felt like God wasn’t fully pleased with me because all the things on my internal list of shoulds, oughts, and musts weren’t completely crossed off.
But when He opened my eyes to the message of new covenant grace, I realized just how wonderful life in Christ can be!
If your walk with Christ is characterized by a sense of obligation and never measuring up to what you think He wants from you, I’ve got some good news for you.
In fact, it’s the best news ever!
This may come as a shock to you, but God doesn’t need you to work for Him (Acts 17:25).
He created you because He wants you to be the object of His lavish affection (1 John 4:19).
He knit you together in your mother’s womb because He wanted you in His eternal family (Psalm 139:13; John 3:16; 2 Corinthians 6:18).
He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to this earth to die on a cross to wipe out your lifetime sin debt and give you new life in Him when you believe in (into) Him (John 6:47; 17:3; 1 John 5:11, 20).
More than anything, He wants you to savor His loving life in you and live out of His abundance everyday!
He longs for you to delight in His endless delight in you.
Apart from what you do.
That’s right.
Your new life in Christ is not about a list of rules, regulations, or requirements in order to be pleasing to God.
He is permanently pleased with you through your belief in (into) His Son (Hebrews 11:6).
This wonderful life in Christ is all about His special love for you and experiencing His abundant life that resides in you day in and day out!
It’s a love story, not a business proposition.
He’s not your boss; He’s the beautiful Lover of your soul!
And as you learn to live from His wonderful life within you, you will grow in your expression of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control, and righteousness (Romans 14:17; Galatians 5:22-23; Philippians 1:11).
Decide today to stop living from obligation and start living in the wonderful realization of what He has already and forever accomplished for and in you!
It truly is a wonderful life in Christ!
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If you enjoyed this post, I invite you to check out all of my books and my video series based on my first devotional.
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