Positive Faith in Scripture

“The thief enters only to steal, kill, and destroy. I came so that they could have life—indeed, so that they could live life to the fullest.”

John 10:10, CEB

All too often faith is treated more like death than life. What I mean is, faith is (in certain contexts) about all the things you’re not supposed to do. It’s about behavior management, conformity, keeping up appearances, and so on. So much attention is given to what you “should not” be doing that you become paralyzed and unable to answer the question: what “should” I be doing? Or, even better, what would I like to do?

This question often scares people of faith. We assume that what we would “like” to do with our lives must somehow be “wrong” and a sign that we’re not living according to God’s way of being. I would suggest the opposite: if we’re grounded in our certain way of seeing and, as much as we can reasonably expect to, prioritizing grace, mercy, forgiveness, and love, then our “wants” for our lives probably line up with God’s desires. This is the essence of living by the Spirit.

After all, Jesus did not come to offer a life where we’re constantly white-knuckling it, at war with ourselves and others, uncertain of what we want to pursue, and living in the shadow of our shame and our fears about who and what we are.

The questions have been answered: We are God’s beloved children: drawn in and accepted for who we are with the promise of becoming even more. And Jesus came to offer fullness of life: a life where we can, in freedom, pursue the things that create a sense of being completely and totally alive and in love with the world and all that God has created.