Defining a Life Well Lived

“The duration of a life whether long or short, measures it’s completeness by determining for whom and for what it was lived for!”

— Dr. Ike Reighard

Just how do we define a life well lived? There are a plethora of answers as numerous as the people that may hold a view. And it must be held that the vast majority of people don’t even consider such a question a priority for their lives as far as it being a daily focus. Most people might occasionally consider such a thought – “What is a life well lived?” – but there is not enough focus placed on the question to deliver enough impetus to answer the question with any cogency of effect toward actualising it.

The question is split in two, above: for whom and for what.

Many people might think it is a marriage partner who should fit the for whom, but an understanding of Christian ideology has us settling only for the Son of God, Jesus Christ. Only through a focus on what is otherworldly are we able to separate ourselves enough from this world that we may have a single focus on what is truly important, devoid of being swayed by any one thing or multiple things in this world, all of which pale into such an eternal understatement of insignificance in comparison with the Divine.

The for what question may seem a little harder, for there are general and specific answers that are all fitting and appropriate. We may live a purpose driven life, which is shaped a certain way, consistent with our passions, our gifting, and our experiences, but there is a broader answer to this question that begs, sitting up, for our attention.

For what have we lived? Again, in the Christian setting, there seems a broad answer: truth and love, or, differently put, truth and grace. If we have devoted ourselves to managing the tension between truth and grace we have been poised with wisdom in the discernment of our living situations. If we learned to observe and live for truth as much as we learned to appreciate and exemplify grace it has been a life well lived. If truth was an equal value with grace – above all values – then we strode a path with God.

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A life well lived has been lived for the Lord Jesus Christ and it has been lived passionately for truth and for grace. It is a life lived for One and for truth and grace that is a life well lived.

© 2014 S. J. Wickham.