I remember it clearly. 

One morning, five years ago, as I was opening the old, wooden front door of my Bronx apartment I hit my mid-twenties crisis. I thought to myself, “my life is monotonous now.” I’d become a hamster running on its wheel.

My life was all work, no play. Just Christ and avoiding sin. 

My best days were behind me and my life was no longer lit because Christianity wasn’t enjoyable. 

But, what is a lit life? As Christians, it is good for us to ask this question of ourselves because the society we live in bombards us with answers.

For example, Psychologist Abraham Maslow attempted to answer this question with his hierarchy of needs. From his psychological point of view some of the main components of a “lit” or “fulfilling” life are status, self-actualization, esteem, love, and belonging. 

Status can be found in the amount of money one makes, where one went to college, or the prestige of a family name. For some, self-actualization means pursuing and crushing your dreams, finding a sense of enlightenment and clarity. For others, esteem means a feeling of security and confidence that one finds in their ability to handle what life throws at them. There are those who discover love from several sources: achieving self-love, finding the one, or being fulfilled from platonic relationships. And finally, some people find belonging in sororities, fraternities, within a career, at a local gym, or on social media. 

All these groups of people have a point and possess a bit of truth in their beliefs. 

I know for me, I feel fulfilled when I’m achieving my goals. I feel secure when I can rely on my own abilities and strengths. But as a Christian, if I merely settle for these things, I’m missing out on the full life that Jesus envisioned for me when he stated these words:

“I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” John 10:6-10

In Christ, we have status, esteem, love, belonging, and the ability to achieve (and sustain) self-actualization. In other words we have the potential for a fully lit life. A life of substance. A life worth living. 

I didn’t always realize this. In the past, I was plagued with the belief that Christianity was all self-denial, all carrying my cross daily. All giving up the pleasures of sin because let’s be real sin feels very right and good. These false beliefs caused me to languish spiritually because my focus was only on what I was giving up. When that is the primary focus of one’s walk with Jesus, it becomes very sad, burdensome, and lackluster. So while Christianity is a walk of denial it is also a walk of abundance. (I promise I’m not pushing a prosperity gospel). The bible contains this truth. 

Many of Paul’s letters start off with what I call Jesus motivations, the reasons for our walk, the fuel for the fires of our faith. It’s where we get and remain lit by Jesus. 

In Ephesians Chapter 1, Paul lays out all of the wonderful abundance that we have because of Christ. He proves that our human needs find their fulfillment in Jesus in four ways:

1. We have status because we are united with Christ

“All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ.” Ephesians 1:3

We have access to all the good, productive spiritual things that exist with God. I like to think of this as “knowing the owner”. For example, my dad is a business owner and whenever I visited his office there was a certain level of privilege I felt because my dad owned the place. That meant I had access to it all, (for the most part.) This is the case for us once we are united with Christ. We have unlimited access to God’s throne of grace and He promises to provide us with all that is according to His will. (Hebrews 4:16 & 1 John 5:14-15). Christ confidence far outweighs the confidence that the world gives for it exceeds earthly realms and flesh.

2. We have love through the timeless love of God

“Even before he made the world, God loved us…” Ephesians 1:4

The word says that God loved us before he even made the world. My boyfriend and I joke around and say that we’ve loved one another since we were in pre-school, though we’ve only been smitten for about two, but the essence of this sentiment is our depth of desire for each other. Gods’ love for us exceeds our biological timeline. He’s loved us before any religious work we’ve done, any sin we’ve committed, or any personal righteousness had been acquired. No human love can surpass that.

3. We have esteem and self-actualization by having the best, most fulfilling, and impactful purpose

“…and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes.” Ephesians 1:4

We have been chosen in Christ to be holy (significantly different, unique) and without fault in God’s eyes. A worldly lit life consists of making ourselves appear perfect, without flaw, and completely inspiring through a technological screen. The Jesus lit life consists of being made holy and having the opportunity to be forgiven and faultless because of Jesus’ blood. God’s view of us is incomparable to other people’s perspective. This provides valuable security, confidence, and unapologetic acceptance.

4. We have belonging because we are adopted into the family of God through Jesus Christ

“God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure.” Ephesians 1:5

There is belonging and identity in Christ. According to a 2018 Psychological study conducted by the Department of Guidance and Counseling at Ordu University in Turkey, research showed that “…belonging is the most basic need and appears to be the most difficult to fulfill.” Jesus single-handedly solved this problem by making a way for those who come to him to belong: we become adopted into God’s family. So though we will feel the pangs of loneliness, the reality in Christ is that we belong to him and we are a part of his family. People change who they are in order to belong. I see it everyday as a high-school teacher. Students who once listened and did the right thing begin to rebel because it’s’ the thing to do to fit in. At times the Christian life may seem difficult especially when Jesus’ teachings cause other people to persecute us or judge us, but we have the ability to overcome even persecution because we belong to God’s family. Adopting us into his family made God happy; it gave him pleasure. Therefore, we do not belong as if it’s an obligatory divine duty. We are desired. We are wanted.

Dear Reader, the pull of the world is strong, even for those of us who profess Christ. Worldly desires and pleasures are enticing and it’s not wrong for us to admit that. For me, acquiring my worth from my successes, my achievements, how much fun I have, how fabulous I look, how aesthetic my apartment is, how much people like me, and how much money I make–this all appeals to me as a lit life (literally)! Yet when I take the time to investigate, read, pray over, and meditate on what I truly have available to me in Christ these things don’t lose their glitter or enticement but they begin to pale in comparison.

Their dazzle begins to dim in the true light and shine of the riches in Christ. My challenge for you, dear reader, is to allow God’s word to define what full, abundant, and lit life is.

Then test it and see if its’ true.

Love and Light,

Kourtney Naomi <3