How do I do the right thing?

Have you ever felt like your whole purpose in life as a Christian is to always aim for doing the "right thing" and avoiding His wrath? Have you found it hard to truly grasp the hope and joy we've heard so much about (Nehemiah 8:10) but seem to rarely experience?We definitely need to find a good balance between "this is what I should be doing" and realizing the joy we have in Christ.

Do you ever think you are obligated to feel guilty about getting any pleasure at all from anything that isn't "spiritual"? Like, if you're not sharing the gospel with every breath that somehow you're "doing it wrong."

Let me encourage you that a balance CAN be had. We can't feel joy if we are constantly beating ourselves up for our failings—real or perceived. But at the same time, we can't grow spiritually unless we are aware of the things we need to change in order to grow closer to God and follow His plan for our lives. Life isn't going to be all roses, but it doesn't have to be all darkness either. Christ as made us new creations, and we get as many chances to "do better" as we need.

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come." —2 Corinthians 5:17

Finding the Balance

Life is a day-by-day thing. Every minute in our existence should be taken on a case-by-case basis and examined with grace and forgiveness for ourselves. There's no blanket way to deal with everything and anything. While the Bible is our best Handbook for Being Human, what it isn't is simply a list of dos and don'ts.

"All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work." —2 Timothy 3:16-17

Yes, God's Word provides principles, and those principles apply differently to various situations in our lives, depending on any number of different factors. It's at once much simpler and yet so complicated for us to fully understand. We want rules. We want something that says "Yes, do this" and "No, don't do that."