WHAT IS THE GOOD LIFE?
The Book of Proverbs
What constitutes the good life? If we listen to Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Job, the good life is the life lived well—the life lived in tandem with God’s blueprint for the world. We learn wisdom through the grace of God, through paying attention, and by listening to the generation before us.
WHEN THE GOOD LIFE ISN'T
The Book of Job
The book of Job raises the question of how we ought to live when living well doesn’t pay off? Will we live the good life only if there is something in it for us? For Job himself, the fact that living well doesn’t always pay off brings the character of God into question, but God’s responses at the end of the book defend God’s trustworthiness.
WORK HARD BUT NOT TOO HARD
The first ingredient of a life well lived is hard work. While important, unchecked diligence can become just as destructive as laziness. This is why the second ingredient of the good life is contentment. Learning to be satisfied is critical to a life well lived.
LORD IT'S HARD TO BE HUMBLE
One of the ingredients of the good life is humility. It’s opposite, pride, is essentially an inability to listen or learn. Humility is by contrast the ability to listen, learn, and grow.
HOLD BACK FROM DANGEROUS THINGS
Part of learning to live a good life is becoming a person of self-restraint. There are three components to learning self-restraint discussed in this message: recognizing dangerous things, controlling our tongues, and having a long temper.