“For the one who wants to love life and to see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit, and let him turn away from evil and do what is good. Let him seek peace and pursue it.” — 1 Peter 3:10-11

“Life is good.” Seems to be a common mantra in present-day society. If you go to any cutesie little beach shop, you are most likely going to find an array of the trademarked “Life is Good” selection of shirts and the like. Whatever you, wherever you go, remember life is good. Let that little slogan lead you. Inherent in its message is a positive affirmation that we would all benefit from reminding ourselves occasionally.

Perhaps, though, how we define the good life needs some amending. I imagine a century ago that the good life would look like sitting on your massive, wraparound front porch, enjoying the company of your neighbors, and feeling satisfied with a hard day’s work while watching the kids and the pets playing in the yard. Not going inside until darkness enveloped you.

Nowadays, the definition of what a good life consists of probably varies to some degree from one person to the next. Generally-speaking, many would probably say the good life would include good health, good marriage, good friends, a good job, good money, good vacations, financial wealth and freedom, nice homes, steady and reliable cars, and pretty much having most of your wants met. It is much easier to say “Life is good” when everything seems to be trending in the right direction.

I have read the book of 1 Peter at least once a day every day this month. The repetition makes the message and the themes take root. Peter wrote this letter to the churches that had been dispersed (see 1 Pet. 1:1). These churches were enduring severe persecution for their faith. Peter’s purpose was to encourage them during those intense times. (I encourage everyone to read the letter as a whole in one sitting for multiple days.)

Prior to Peter’s exhortation on how to love life and see good days, (remember, he is telling them this amidst extreme persecution), he tells to be sober-minded, compassionate, humble, and to not pay back evil for evil or insult for insult–rather, give a blessing instead (see 1 Pet. 3:8-9). That is a tall order–these Christians are enduring impossible suffering, and Peter says not only to not retaliate, but actually to bless them. Only by the presence and the power of the Holy Spirit could they do so, following the exact example of Jesus when He was beaten, insulted, and crucified while being innocent.

Right after these words, Peter quotes Psalm 34:12-14, which says, “Who is someone who desires life, loving a long life to enjoy what is good? Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from deceitful speech. Turn away from evil and do what is good; seek peace and pursue it.” Peter is encouraging these suffering Christians to love life and experience the good life–but in a way that is entirely the opposite of what we would expect.

How can we apply this same message to our lives today? Most of us reading this are not experiencing persecution and suffering for our faith. Yet even amidst our wealth, we fail to recognize that our lives are good. Why is that? Because we are defining the good life by the wrong dictionary. I want to define a good life, to love my life, by the means in which the Holy Spirit inspired both Old and New Testament writers to say it.

We waste so much time hunting down the wrong things and chasing empty pursuits that will never fulfill us nor satisfy us. We think if we can make a certain amount of money, then we will have arrived. Or if we just could go on that one elusive trip to the ideal paradise, then our hearts will finally be content and happy. If we could just earn that job title, then we will feel like we have done something with our lives. The striving, the endless pursuit of materialism, the perfect partner, fill-in-the-blank–those will never, ever mean we have the good life. And often, once we achieve or acquire whatever we think that thing is, we find ourselves still with that empty feeling in our souls.

Why? Because that is not truly the good life at all. We are told, more than once, in the Bible the key to loving our lives and seeing good days. The Greek word for “life” in this passage from 1 Peter is “zoe,” and the definition for it in its usage here is: “life, i.e.blessed life, life that satisfies” (Hebrew-Greek Word Study Bible, p. 2175). “Good” here is defined as “good in respect to the feelings, excited, i.e. pleasant, joyful, happy” (Hebrew-Greek Key Word Study Bible, p. 2030). Peter is saying for the one who wants to live a blessed life that satisfies and see good days that are pleasant and joyful and happy, then that person, and we, must keep our tongues from evil, keep our lips from speaking deceit, turn away from evil, do what is good, seek peace, and pursue it.

What if we took God at His word and truly had the faith that His way is the way for us to truly love our lives and see good days? What if, today was the day when we started redefining the good life and adopted His meaning of it? Not only would we experience blessing as a result, but what a blessing to others we would also become. Every one of those actions has the potential to involve other people. What if we only spoke the truth and our words were not hurtful, malicious, or full of gossip? What if, rather than choosing the evil path, we chose to do good, even to others who don’t deserve it? How about this, in our relationships, we seek peace and pursue it?

How would our lives look different if we began to live the good life according to Scripture today? Here is my challenge for all of us: for the next 21 days (yes, 21 days because it takes that long for a new behavior to become a habit), let us each make the intentional and conscientious choice to live the good life by speaking truth and not any evil, by turning away from evil, by doing good, by seeking peace, and by pursuing peace. Once 21 days have passed, aim for another 90 days and watch the transformation of your heart during this process. Let’s cast aside this world’s empty definition of the good life, and let’s wholeheartedly pursue the good life as God defines it! Remember, Peter’s original audience for this instruction was a group of persecuted and suffering believers. If they could do it, then we can as well, by the power of the Holy Spirit!