Does following Jesus mean giving up “fun?”

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What can we tell someone who is interested in Jesus but wants no part in having to give up the fun things they do in life in order to follow Him?

We shouldn’t make the mistake of thinking that the Christian life is negative in a way that suggest we must give up everything we enjoy. While the Bible tells us what we shouldn’t do, in order to live life to the fullest and in obedience to God (as in the Ten Commandments), the Bible also tells us what to do, as in the beautiful message Jesus preached, known as the Beatitudes (Matthew 5).

The same Jesus that said “Go and sin no more,” is the same Jesus that said to His followers this: “These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.” (John 15: 11 KJV).

When God takes away a sinful habit, He replaces it with a better way of living. When He takes away gossip and cursing, He replaces them with words of love and encouragement. God doesn’t just want to remove the bad things in our lives; He wants to replace them with His goodness; to make us from within.

Those who imagine that the Christian life is negative, cheerless and dull, they are badly mistaken. God never removes something from our lives with replacing it with something far better. It might not seem so at the time, but we later marvel at God’s wisdom and goodness.

Obey Him and heed what the Bible says in Romans 12: 2. “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” This is good and acceptable to God in heaven and this is what gives us the strength to live a joyful life.