What is the good life?

By Rick Warren

For some people the good life means looking good. In America, looking good is serious business. Tanning, color coordination, expensive hairdos, fat suction—whatever it takes—we have to look good. We place a high premium on beauty and good looks. Do you know the problem with looking good? There is no universal standard. What looks good to you may not look good to me and vice versa. Have you ever argued with your kids about what clothes they should wear? Looking good means different things to different people.

Some people think the good life means feeling good. Whatever it takes, they have to feel good. That may mean sitting in a hot tub, going to Disneyland, or taking drugs. They pursue pleasure at all costs. Their standard of living is “If it feels good, do it.”

Still others people think the good life means having goods. They set about acquiring things, and if they get all the goodies, they think have a good life. They live the bumper sticker slogan “The one with the most toys wins.” For these people, the whole object of life is to make money and spend it on goods.

The Bible presents a radically different picture of the good life. God says in his Word that the good life is not based on looking good, feeling good, or having goods. He says the good life is a life filled with goodness-being and doing good. When you are being good and doing good, you are going to feel good, and you are even going to start looking good—or at least looking better. But what exactly is goodness?

Genesis I records God’s creating of the universe and tells us that when he saw everything he created, he said it was good. Why? Because it fulfilled the purpose for which it was created. “Goodness” means fulfilling a purpose. It is being what God meant you to be.

God made you for a purpose. When you live the way God intends for you to live, you will feel good. Your life will become meaningful. You will feel good because you are doing what God made you to do. Now, what is that good thing for which God made you?

Ephesians 2:10 says, “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” we are not saved by good works; we are saved for good works. The Christian lifestyle is to be lifestyle of goodness.

But why should you be good? How will you benefit from a lifestyle of goodness? The payoff is a healthy self-esteem. When you are doing good and being good, you will feel good about yourself because you are doing what God created you to do. This is a deeper sense of satisfaction than the satisfaction of self-centered pleasure-seekers.

Lasting, healthy self-esteem does not come from look good, because looks fade. It does not come from feeling good, because you won’t feel good all the time, no matter what you do. And it does not come from having goods, because material possessions are often here today and gone tomorrow. Lasting self-esteem comes from doing good and being good. That is the purpose for which God made you.