The secret to great living

Eric and Leslie Ludy, my favorite authors, have a ministry targeted towards young adults, challenging and empowering them to live a set-apart life for Christ. Their message and the call to the set-apart life is something that deeply draws me and is something I often come back to. I honestly desire to live a life beyond myself, to not waste anything or hold anything back but to really count the cost and spend my life for my savior. I thought I'd share some inspiring quotes and scriptures that I've gathered (mainly from the Ludy's books) regarding this matter.

“What is the secret to great living? Entire separation to Christ and devotion to Him. Thus speaks every man and woman whose life has made more than a passing flicker in the spiritual realm. It is the life that has no time for trifling that counts.”
- Amy Carmichael

Jesus made it clear to His disciples that if they would come away with Him, they first must forgo their personal life agendas, say good-bye to all that they prize and are comforted by in this life, and then, and only then, follow Him. Matthew 16:24, Paraphrase

I have kicked myself off the throne of my life, so I no longer dictate how I live; but now Christ, living within me, has taken His position on my throne, and He determines how I live. This life I live in this earthly body, I now live in total dependence and trust in Jesus Christ who loved me and sacrificed everything for me. Galatians 2:20 Paraphrase

Looking at it one way, you could say, "Anything goes. Because of God's immense generosity and grace, we don't have to dissect and scrutinize every action to see if it will pass muster." But the point is not to just get by. We want to live well, but our foremost efforts should be to help others live well. 1 Corinthians 10:23 The Message

What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. Romans 6:1-4

Christ’s set-apart ones have all gone through the same inner-transformation process, They have all kicked self off the throne of their lives, eliminating the controlling power of sin, and offered the heavenly Prince the ruling power of their existence. Galatians 5:24 Paraphrase

In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple. Luke 14:33

But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage that I may gain Christ. Philippians 3:7-8

I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead. Philippians 3:10-11

“The preoccupations of young women – their looks, their clothes, their social life – don’t seem to change much from generation to generation. But in every generation there are a few who make other choices.” - Elizabeth Elliot

** Will you be one of the few who chooses to make other choices? Who chooses to serve Christ above yourself? Who won’t settle for mediocre Christianity of today but instead chooses to live a set-apart radical life for your savior, Jesus Christ?**

“The world has yet to see what God can do with and for and through and in a man who is fully and wholly consecrated to Him.” – Henry Varley