Don't live for God

Okay, so the title sounds a little like treason, especially for a Christian.
What?!? Not live for Christ?!?! Are you crazy????
Yes. And, ....... no.

Think about it. Does God really need us to live for Him?
"Please, I beg of you... live for me!!! I don't know how I'm going to survive with out your support!!"
Yeah, right. That's not the All Powerful, All Knowing God that we know him to be. He's perfectly fine without us.
But God gave His son.
And He wants us to know what an amazing gift that is for us.
It changes our lives.
It frees us.

So, .... what if we lived our lives....because of God.

Not for Him.

Live our lives because of what He did.

Isn't that freeing? To know that no matter what we did, can do, or will do, we can live our lives because of Him?

So often we get caught up in the pretense that we are doing some big favor for God by,
"Living our lives for God" or "Leading people to Him" or even worse "Winning souls".

Notice how when we say those things, we focus on what we are doing. Not what God is using us to do. God doesn't need our help. But He chooses to use us, so that we may be blessed and completely overwhelmed by Him filling us as vessels to carry the Living water to the thirsty.

When someone gives you a drink, do you thank the cup, or the person giving it to you?
Do you see what I'm getting at?

God should be getting the glory for what happened that "day at VBS", but instead people sit around bragging about how many people they "led to Christ".

Mike Donehey of Tenth Avenue North puts it perfectly:

Could you imagine what that would look like?
A bunch of people that no longer live for God but because of God?
I mean, think about how terribly liberating that is!
You don’t have to earn a thing.
You don’t have to perform for anyone.
You don’t even have to go and win souls for God.
You just need to know that you’re already accepted, and live like you actually believe it.
Think about it.
A people that praise Him because of who He is.
Doing things because of what He has done.
A church that loves, and forgives, because He first loved them.
Oh how beautiful that would be.

Casting Crowns says it perfectly when speaking of living a life with God in
the driver's seat:

People aren't confused by the Gospel

They are confused by us

Jesus is the only way to God

But we are not the only way to Jesus

This world doesn't need my tie, my hoodie,

My denomination or my translation of the Bible

They just need Jesus

We can be passionate about what we believe

But we can't strap ourselves to the Gospel

Because we are slowing it down

Jesus is going to save the world

But maybe the best thing we can do

Is just get out of the way

Did you hear that? God can save the world, whenever, however, and in whatever manner He chooses. But we must be there waiting to do His will. Not playing around with the tools, so that He has to fix the tools first, before He can fix the world.

Be a vessel.

Thank the giver, not the cup.

Live a life because of God.