“The thief comes only to steal, kill and destroy. I have come that they may have life and have it to the full.” John 10:10

God wants us to enjoy our lives. The Amplified Bible says “…I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows).” John 10:10 Not only did Jesus die so that we may have life in relationship with the Father but so that we may have overflowing joy, pleasure, happiness, freedom, and all things good. God wants us to thrive on this earth. Stop and think about your life. Are you thriving or merely surviving? If you find yourself in survival mode, here are five ways to start thriving and experiencing life to the full.

Strengthen your relationship with the Lord

 “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.” -Deuteronomy 6:5

Study

Learn God’s word. I’m not saying pick a bible study plan and read every day so you can check a box. The studying I am talking about is really digging into Gods word in order to know him. It is not about how much you read or how long you read as much as it is about the quality of your study. We get to know the character of God by studying His word. We also learn how to do life through studying His word. For example, if you are struggling with fear or anger look up verses about those feelings and study what God has to say about them.

Obey

We can truly show God our love through obedience to His word. As you study His word, you’ll find that God speaks to you. I’m not saying you’ll literally hear a big strong voice, although you may, but that you’ll have a knowing in your heart and maybe in your gut. God may show you an attitude or behavior that needs to change, He may ask you to do something for someone, or so many other things. If we want to grow in our walk with Him it is important that we listen and obey when he speaks to us. As we grow in our relationship with Him and we experience God’s character, His love, faithfulness, and goodness our obedience will improve.

Worship

My favorite act of worship is joyful body movement. I like to do my daily devotional before I exercise (yoga, walking, hiking, weight training, anything) and then I meditate on the part of the devotional that stood out to me. I may repeat God’s word in my mind or I may say it out loud. Sometimes I do this in silence and other times I listen to worship music. I find that I feel the holy spirit most when I am moving my body, breathing deeply, and out in nature. I am also moved by the Holy Spirit as I worship with others in church or at concerts etc. Sometimes I don’t feel particularly moved when I worship but that is okay, whats important is that we take time to praise and thank our God and give our lives to Him. Find a form of worship that works for you.

Fellowship

Spending time with other people who share your beliefs is a fantastic way to grow. By talking to others you’re able to learn different perspectives on things, receive encouragement, or gentle correction. The Lord often uses other people to speak to you and He may use your experiences to help others. In this post I talk about the benefits of friendship. As God’s word states “Two are better than one because they have a good return for their labor: If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up.”  Ecclesiastes 4: 9-10

Strengthen Your Relationship with Yourself.

Joyce Meyer always says that it is tough to enjoy your life if you don’t like yourself. In order to thrive, we need to accept ourselves, embrace our personalities and give grace to our imperfections. God wants us to love ourselves and enjoy the way He made us. Mark tells us that we are to love our neighbors as ourselves. Sometimes I really stop and think about that and it highlights how mean I can be to myself and in turn my loved ones. I can say things to myself that I wouldn’t imagine saying to my neighbor.  However, If I am having a day where I feel bad about myself and have been saying negative things to myself I usually end up taking it out on my husband in some way. We give to others what we have inside of us whether that is love or hate and we do so with or without intending to.

Going back to Mark 12:31, the second greatest commandment is to love your neighbor as yourself. We are given clear instructions that we are to love ourselves.  In order to love your unique self, say good things about yourself, don’t compare yourself to others, focus on your potential instead of your limitations and keep your flaws in perspective. Jesus died to cover your weaknesses and imperfections so there is no need to meditate on them. We can turn those things over to the Lord and allow Him to work in us to change them. You are allowed to like yourself just the way you are and still have a desire to grow. Remember that God created you, he put inside of you the things that make you, you for a reason. Embrace your “youness” and ask God to help you grow into the best you, you can be.

Be in the Best Health Possible

If you are not physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually well you are not able to do God’s work to the best of your ability. I am not saying that you cannot do God’s work if you have an illness, disease, chronic pain, and/or a disability, I know that God works through those things. What I am saying is that if there is something you can be doing to improve your health you should be doing it so that you are in the best shape possible to do the work He is calling you too. I talk about what wellness means to me in this blog post. You can also learn some practical tips for wellness in my post Six Ways to Honor God with Our Bodies.

Enjoy Your Journey

This was SUCH a hard concept for me to grasp. I remember saying “I’ll be happy when…. (fill in life event)”. In the beginning of college, I thought I had to focus on school and nothing else. It wasn’t just “I’ll be happy when”, it was also, “I’ll be healthy when..”, “I’ll spend time with God when…”, “I’ll have date nights with my husband when…” and so many more. These phrases were always followed with, “I can’t wait for my life to start!” Looking back it is sad for me to see how much time I wasted merely surviving. I remember when I realized my life started a long time ago and I should start finding some balance in it and enjoying it! It was life changing to slow down and start enjoying myself right where I was. It is not a bad thing to look forward to things but we also need to find joy where we are. A great way to do this is to start practicing mindfulness. Ask God to help you focus on the task at hand, one thing at a time. Ask God to help you understand what He is doing in your life right now and to help you see events as they relate to your life journey. You’ll find much more joy in the day to day if you are not constantly fighting to get to tomorrow.

Focus on the Positive Things

This goes right along with enjoying our journey. Sometimes our circumstances are less than desirable and we have to find a way to manage. God doesn’t always change our circumstances but that doesn’t mean we can’t thrive right where we are. God will not only give us what we need to survive our circumstances but He is the joy that will allow us to thrive while we’re in them. When I find myself in a negative situation or circumstance I pray and ask God to show me how He is going to use it for good. Sometimes He does and sometimes I am not sure how He will use it for good, but I know that God causes all things to work together for good for those who love Him (see Romans 8:28). This is the positive I choose to focus on. What will yours be?

What does Thriving look like for you? How can you make the most of your life?

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