One of the recently popular Twitter hashtags is #YOLO (you only live once). Fantastic reminder, but what are we going to do with that one life we have to live?
According to a quick perusal through the recent posts, many young adults are not taking advantage of their one life:
People are craazy telling me the suns bad for me , tanning is the healthiest thing I do
#tandrinkrepeat#YOLOWent to sociology one day this week
#YOLOI’m legit about to take a picture underwater with my phone.
#Yolo?!?When Ryan wakes up with a scrape on his face and puke in his trash…
#brother#drunk#yolo
From a Christian perspective, #YOLO takes on an entirely different way of thinking about the world and the one life that we have to live in it.
1. The decisions you make now prepare you for the rest of your one life.
The people you spend time with, the skills and education you gain, the passions you pursue, and the faith you develop all impact the way the rest of your life unfolds. The more you focus on the things that move you toward adulthood, maturity, and achieving your dreams and goals, the more you are able to take advantage of the YOLO perspective to make that one life the kind of life you’ll be proud to live.
It’s important to remember that one destructive decision can impact everything forever. One night of partying that results in pregnancy, STD’s, or a drunk driving conviction will hang on forever. One drug charge or theft charge will make you unemployable. One misplaced tattoo could cause much regret later.
2. Having kingdom impact requires you to look outside your own life.
Serving. Giving. Loving. What if those were the values that YOLO promoted? Wouldn’t a series of tweets that looked like this be far more positive?
Helping out at the homeless shelter – #YOLO
Spending time at the hospital with my friend whose mother is dying – #YOLO
Organizing a bike drive for the kids in my neighborhood who can’t afford to buy one – #YOLO
Decided to read the #Bible instead of 50 Shades of Grey – #YOLO
If you only life once, make it count.
3. Your one life extends to eternity.
For Christians, the perspective that you only live once is very true, but that one life lasts a lot longer than you think it does. If it’s true that our eternity with God is shaped by these brief moments of how we live now, then every decision takes on even greater significance.
If you believe that this life is the precursor to the life to come, then you should live that way. That doesn’t mean avoiding fun. That doesn’t mean over-spiritualizing everything and annoying everyone with your Christian cliches. That doesn’t mean isolating yourself from the world into some kind of a Christian bubble, attending Bible studies and church services every night of the week.
It means keeping the mission in mind. It means filtering your thoughts and actions through an eternal mindset. Loving God, loving people. Every decision. Every time.
It may help you avoid decisions like this one…
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Corey Magstadt is the founder and Executive Director of Launch Ministry. He is the author of the You Are Not Alone small group curriculum for parents of struggling young adults. Connect with him on Facebook or Twitter.
