In all of life, we are not building our own kingdoms but are seeking to be faithful in God’s. We serve at the pleasure of our God and King; He makes our labors fruitful, and thanks to the resurrection of Jesus, nothing we do in His service will be in vain (Psalm 127:1; 1 Corinthians 15:58).

God’s love for us in Christ upends our whole lives in the best way. The Apostle Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 5:14–15 that

the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.

The gospel of Jesus is so powerful that it disrupts our former pursuits in life of glorifying and enjoying ourselves, and of building our own personal kingdoms. As Charles Wesley’s great hymn expresses:

Died he for me, who caused his pain?
For me, who him to death pursued?
Amazing love! How can it be
That thou, my God, shouldst die for me?

This amazing love causes us to love God in return (1 John 4:19). It compels us to live no longer for ourselves but for Christ, who died for our sake and was raised.

God’s love for us is so precious that we hold it as “better than life” (Ps. 63:3; see Acts 20:24). In the words of Isaac Watts, “All the vain things that charm me most, I sacrifice them to his blood.” Though it can be painful and uncomfortable for us, the Holy Spirit causes us to willingly give up self-oriented activities and ambitions. The New Testament speaks of our old self and our former pursuits as being crucified with Christ—as dead—so that now we live for a glorious purpose: to glorify and enjoy God forever (Gal. 2:20).

Such great love enlists us as God’s servants, seeking His will in every facet of our lives (2 Cor. 5:9; 2 Tim. 2:4). This means submitting our whole lives to Him—from how we spend our time and money, to the relationships and friendships we enter, to our careers. In our homes, we keep certain rooms “off limits” to guests—where they cannot enter—but the Christian has nothing that is “off limits” to God. We take every thought captive to Christ, not just some (2 Cor. 10:5). “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Cor. 10:31).

The world, the flesh, and the devil will object here and say that God is overly demanding. Surely it’s too much to require that our whole lives be submitted to God. Surely this will lead to “Christianity made impossible” and lives that are puritanical and without fun, in constant fear of doing something wrong. This is the same tactic that Satan used in the garden: making God out as withholding, unkind, and unloving. Satan glamorizes sin but hides the fine print: Sin always deceives and kills (Prov. 9:13–18). As John Bunyan depicted in The Pilgrim’s Progress, the world invites us to shop at Vanity Fair and treasure this world instead of continuing our heavenward journey. Contrary to the world, the flesh, and the devil, submitting one’s whole life to God is both freeing and joyful. We follow the instructions of God’s Word “not out of slavish fear, but a childlike love” (Westminster Confession of Faith 20.1). Rather than hollowing out our enjoyment of this life, God deepens it.

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