Living Your Best Life

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“The love of Christ compels us.” – II Corinthians 5:14

What does a life of human flourishing look like?

What does it really mean to live your best life?

If you were to sit in my Religious Studies class, you’d be invited to ponder these exact questions regularly. Not because we’re chasing philosophical rabbit trails, but because it’s one of the most important questions a person can ask. How do we flourish? What does God’s version of the good life look like? And why does it matter?

As we walk through the grand narrative of Scripture together, we keep noticing something remarkable: God is always drawing people back to himself. I say back because there was a time when humans actually flourished. A time before striving and shame. Before fear and self-reliance. It was in the Garden, when people walked with God as one might walk with a friend. They didn’t wonder if they were good enough. They weren’t hustling for validation or drowning in comparison. They didn’t carry the burden of measuring up or standing out. They just were. And they were deeply known. And truly happy.

In that idyllic space, God’s original vision for human flourishing was beautifully realized. Our Garden home was a place of wholeness, connection, purpose, and peace. But that vision was fractured the moment trust was broken.

“Did God really say…?”

“Can I really trust him?”

“Is he actually good?”

“What if there’s something better outside of God’s boundaries?”

These questions were first asked in the Garden, but they’ve echoed through every human heart since. The moment humans decided to define goodness and flourishing on their own terms, everything changed. And we’ve been trying to find our way back ever since. Whether we are aware of that or not.

The problem is, we still think we know better. We’re convinced that if we just had more freedom, more money, more likes, more recognition, then we’d finally flourish. But God’s idea of flourishing looks a lot less like control and a lot more like surrendered trust.

As my students and I continued exploring the unfolding story of Scripture, we kept bumping into a theme: God’s faithfulness. Despite humanity’s repeated rebellion, God never gives up.

Time and again, he rescues and restores. He calls out, forgives, and re-invites his people to walk with him. It’s almost scandalous—his mercy, his patience, his relentless pursuit of those who don’t deserve it and keep throwing it back in his face.

The whole cycle looks a lot like God bailing people out of jail. These stiff-necked, stubborn people who refuse to trust him fully. But if we’re honest, we’re not so different. It’s easy to sit in judgment over biblical figures as they stumble their way through life. We assume that if we could see and hear God the way they did, if we experienced the miracles, well, we would obviously make better choices.

But C.S. Lewis warned against this kind of thinking. He referred to it as “chronological snobbery”: the idea that because we are more progressive and we live in a more “advanced” time, we’re automatically wiser. That we wouldn’t make the same mistakes.

But are we really?

We may have WI-FI and Teslas, but our hearts still wrestle with the same questions:

Am I enough?

Is God trustworthy?

What will truly make me happy?

We are them. They are us. And still, God does not give up. He is relentless in his pursuit of us.

It’s his love that compels us! Not guilt, not rules, not pressure. Love. His vision for our lives is not about limitation but liberation. Not control, but calling. Not performance, but peace.

And that’s what I’m hoping we can all begin to understand. When I think of my high school students as we explored this topic, some of them wisely said, “Maybe human flourishing is just living your best life.” And I think they’re right. When living your best life is defined by peace, joy, and alignment with God.

It’s his love that compels us. His vision for human flourishing that draws us. God really does have the best ideas for how we can live best. For how we can flourish. For how you can truly live your best life. 

What would it look like for you to live your best life? And I don’t mean having just a little more money or a little less double chin. That’s how the world measures the good life. 

I humbly suggest that living your best life has much more to do with living at peace. Living at peace with yourself, with others, and most of all, living at peace with God. The Bible also refers to that as righteousness—being in right relationships with those around us, including God and ourselves.

Right before the popular proverb about trusting the Lord with all your heart, the author of the proverb says in Proverbs 3:3-4 (MSG) 

Don’t lose your grip on steadfast love and faithfulness… so you will earn a reputation for living well in the eyes of God and people. 

Another translation says, so you’ll find favour and good success in the sight of God and man. (ESV)

That phrase “favour and good success” isn’t about status. It’s about wholeness. It’s about walking in step with God’s design and becoming the person you were always created to be.

I don’t know about you, but I want that kind of success!

Not only that, but I want to be known for living well—not just in God’s eyes, but in the eyes of the people around me. I want my life to leave a fragrance of grace, of joy, of wisdom. And that kind of life isn’t manufactured. It’s cultivated in trust.

And it is possible for all of us.

Even Jesus modelled this for us. In Luke 2:52, when Jesus was only 12 years old and enjoyed a 3-day stint at the temple in Jerusalem unbeknownst to his poor parents, we read that Jesus “grew in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man.” He didn’t just exist—he flourished.

Jesus embodied a life of human flourishing. We don’t have to wonder what it might look like to live at peace in all the ways we’ve been describing because Jesus already did, and he shows us how: by trusting that what God says is true. And it’s his love that compels us to trust and obey in the first place.

So what about you? What does a life of flourishing look like in your season? What does it mean for you to live your best life God’s way?

This will inevitably look different for each of us, depending on our own wiring, calling, gifting, and season. But the goal is the same: to find favour and good success in the sight of God and people. To live at peace. To live in right relationship with others. And the invitation is the same too: Trust me, God says. Walk with me. I know what the good life really looks like.

So here’s a simple challenge:

Ask God today, “What’s one thing I can do to walk in your favour today?” “What does your love compel me to do today?”

Then give him the space. Take the time to listen. He will speak, because he loves to talk to his children.

And when he finally does—act! One step. One choice. One response of trust. 

You may be surprised how quickly God’s Spirit can fill you with his peace when you stop chasing the good life, and start walking in it right where you already are. 

What’s in the Ears

This is the part of the blog where I share a song or podcast I’m currently into. This song came out a few years ago and is perfectly suited for this topic. Enjoy!

If this stirred something in you, share this post with a friend, or drop a comment below. I’d love to hear what flourishing looks like in your life!

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