Christ Centered Living: The Secret to the Happy Life

If we pursue happiness instead of choosing joy, we’ll become, a pinball in a world of chaos. Your inner peace will be slammed back and forth depending on the issues of the day like the metal ball in the arcade game.  But if you choose your attitude-one freedom that can’t be taken away from you, you can choose joy even when your world is falling apart.  I am convinced that joy does not come from without, but from within as a gift or result of the Spirit as we walk with Him.  A life of calm, peaceful satisfaction, a positive attitude, a contented heart, and none of these depend on what I have, whom I with, or what’s going on around me.  True happiness is the cultivation of a Christ empowered life.  When Jesus is the center, not only does He replace anxiety, fear, and insecurity with contentment, but He also impacts our perspective on what Paul has been teaching us.

3 Results of Christ Centered Living

1. Christ centered living changes my attitude toward my circumstances.

When you live with Christ at the center, you have a Biblical, or gospel centered worldview.  You see your circumstances in light of eternity, and His work in you and in the world.  This sort of outlook allows you to go from the human centered worldview that cries out, God, why me?  To God, how would you choose me to glorify you in this manner.  How do you view the world?

2. Christ centered living delivers me from the opinions of others.

The more Christ means to you, the less others opinions mean.  You will care less about how many friends or followers you have on social.  You’ll care nothing about how many likes you get on a post.  Really, how silly we have become.  You know you’ve done it.  You check your post many times to see if the likes or comments are growing.  
Over the years I’ve been bothered less and less about pleasing others, not because I care less for them, but because I care more for Jesus.  His priorities, His passions, His pursuits, and His plan for me.

If I make Christ the center, He delivers me from the opinions of others.  Right now, choose to care more about the mind of Christ than the opinions of others.

3. Christ centered living gives me peace about the future.

One of the greatest fears of humanity is the fear of death.  I believe that’s been heightened in recent days as Covid-19 has hit. Let me tell you: Unless you are in the generation that sees the rapture of the Lord, and that becomes more possible with each passing day, there’s no doubt you will die.  Everyone will die. Death has it out for all of us.  It may not be for years, or it may be soon.  You don’t’ know and you can’t.  

The last thing you should do is worry about when you’ll die.  Instead focus on how you will live.

If Christ is the center; it doesn’t matter whether you live long or short lives, whether you die sooner or later.  What matters is that you love Him, serve Him, and enjoy the joy of your salvation today.  Christ will care for your tomorrows.  Choose today to think more about focusing on Christ, His death, and His resurrection than about worrying over life and death.  Isn’t it amazing that when the person of Christ is in full focus, centrally located in our hearts and minds, everything starts to make sense?  Order emerges out of chaos.  Clarity out of confusion.  Life from death.

Pastor Chris Williams
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