Redefining Living In the Moment

“Shun youthful lusts and flee from them, and aim at and pursue righteousness (all that is virtuous and good, right living, conformity to the will of God in thought, word, and deed); [and aim at and pursue] faith, love, [and] peace (harmony and concord with others) in fellowship with all [Christians], who call upon the Lord out of a pure heart.

2 Timothy 2:22 (Amplified Bible, Classic Edition)

In the world, people are always reiterating the importance of living in the moment through popular sayings like “YOLO” (You only live once), “LIVE FAST, DIE YOUNG,” and even through mindfulness practices that reiterate the importance of the present. But because these sayings are not rooted in the spirit of truth, which is the Holy Spirit, the meaning becomes perverted and leads people astray. Each of these sayings produces the following in us: YOLO stirs emotions of fear because we believe that we are missing out, and we end up guilting ourselves to attend things

feeling that to live to the fullest means to live recklessly, or being so focused on the present that we lose sight of the future. Yet God gave us basic instructions before leaving Earth, aka the Bible.

One of the most convicting verses that God has given me over the years has been 2 Timothy 2:22. Although I was getting older, I still had some habits that stemmed from the wrong thinking I had grown up meditating on, thoughts that sounded good, but led to more pain down the line. Being a Christian is more than changing our outer appearance; it is about being a DISCIPLE. Disciple shares the same root word as DISCIPLINE. And while one can be disciplined outside of having faith, the only way to maintain heart purity is to recognize that the discipline we live out is ONLY possible because of what the Spirit of the Lord has placed inside us, rather than what we can do in our own strength. While we all