I’ve been thinking about why I do the things that I do.

We all do the things that we do—you've probably noticed that—but the big question for me is WHY?

As I ask that question of myself, I want to tell you about two of the things that stand out as guiding principles in my life.

First off, when I look around at the world, I don’t like what I see.

Now don't get me wrong. Everybody loves baby animals, and there are lots of cool things happening in the world. But there is a lot of other stuff out there that I DO NOT LIKE.

I don’t like pain. I don’t like death, and I see a lot of both of those things. I look around and I see hurt people hurting people. Then I see that cycle repeating itself over and over and over. It’s such a common part of our daily lives that we don’t even notice it.

I look around at the world locally, nationally, and internationally, and so much of what I see, I do not like.

And that dissatisfaction with the way of things is a driving force in my life.

But it’s not the only one. If all I had going for me was a supreme dislike for the way of things, then my life would be full of hopelessness and anger. And some days I feel a lot of those things. But there is this other guiding principle of my life that is bigger than the things I do not like to see in the world and the hopelessness and anger that sometimes follows.

In spite of how messed up the world is and our lives are, I believe that there is real cause for hope and revolution in this world.

Specifically, I believe that God is real, and that His ultimate response to our sinful mess was to respond in radical love. Such radical love that He sent His only Son Jesus to come into this mess and rescue us. I believe that Jesus literally came to this earth and died to pay the price for my sins and for everyone else’s. And I believe He came back to life a few days later because He is bigger even than death and because we need to know that.

The fact that Jesus is Jesus means that things do not have to be the way that they are. People don’t have to spend their lives trapped by the things that have happened to them, trapped by the way those things have changed them, and trapping other people by the things they they do and say to them. Rather than being trapped and being trappers, we can be free! And we can be instruments of freedom in the world.

On this subject, the Book of 1 Corinthians, Chapter 5 in the Bible says:

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!”

I don't like the way many things are in the world today. But because of Jesus there is hope.

Those two guiding principles explain why I do a lot of the things that I do. In the midst of the messiness of life, I believe that everybody needs a Savior and that Jesus is Him. And I want everybody to get the chance to meet Him.

But the more important question for you today is: why do you do what you do?

Why are you happy about the things you are happy about and angry about the things you are angry about? Why do you care about the things that you care about and not care about the things you don't care about? There are reasons why, and those reasons are shaping your whole life.

If you think about that, and you like who you are and your reasons for being that, live them boldly and honestly.

But if you take a look at who you are and why, and you realize that you don’t really like either of those, then please know that there is another hope for a whole new life for you that is built on a totally different why.

Jesus is out there. He is for you. And when you find Him, you will never be the same.