Do you feel like you’re living a lukewarm stagnant and defeated life? Have you used one of these statements?
- “I just feel like I’m in this thing alone.”
- “I don’t feel like God cares about me, personally.”
- “I don’t feel like my life has a purpose. In fact, it seems random.”
- “I have destructive behaviors that keep dragging me back down.”
- “My soul feels dry.”
- “My most important relationships aren’t working.”
- “I don’t feel like I’m doing anything that will make a difference.”
Author Patrick Morley explores God’s plan for us to live vibrant lives, and he gives suggestions for overcoming ambivalence. He thinks that statements like those above are symptoms of men needing to fill several primal God-given needs. One key primal need is the need to feel really loved by God, regardless of what they’ve done.
“The gospel is this: nothing can disqualify you from the grace of God, nothing you’ve ever done is so bad that you are disqualified from the grace of God. Likewise, nothing you’ve ever done is so good that you merit his favor. Rather our hope is in the life, the death and the resurrection of Jesus Christ.”
Men who feed their primal need to be loved by God are on the way to living vibrant lives.
There are other differences between a stagnant life and a victorious life. According to Patrick, men who lead victorious lives have consistent Bible reading time and “life-on-life” relationships with other individuals that encourage spiritual growth.
Small groups or similar intentional “life-on-life” relationships are beneficial because they allow men to really see how other men are handling life situations. In such groups they have space to be in process, they don’t have to have their game face on.
Patrick explores other characteristics of vibrant life in his book, .
Key Scriptures: Ephesians 2:4-5, Ezra 10:4, Ephesians 6:10-16
