Living Life with Abandon

September 27, 2023

I know I don’t have to confess this to anyone, but when I decided to use this photo for this week’s post, it hit me that I take a lot more pictures of other people doing things than I do myself.

I’ll rationalize it this way—being an amateur photographer doesn’t allow me the time to participate like I probably should. I’m just too busy taking pictures to get out there.

Don’t buy it do you?

Neither do I.

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Frankly, high-energy, high-risk activities just aren’t my thing. Never have been really. I’ll take a good walk. Might even jog a while. I’ll hike. I’ll play pick-up sports like tennis, pickleball, or basketball. But you’ll even find me being careful in each of those. It’s just who I am.

Though, I’ll admit, I would love to live life with more abandon than that.

One source says living life with abandon is this…

“Living life with abandon doesn’t mean living recklessly but rather deciding that no matter what comes your way you are going to enjoy everything and you are going to make the best of what is going on around you.”[1]

The man kitesurfing in the photo looks like he is living his life with abandon to some extent. I suppose he could be fearfully dreading what he is doing, but I doubt it. I’d say he has decided to enjoy everything that is part of kitesurfing, making the best of what the wind and ocean have to offer him.

Another writer said this…

“To “live with abandon” means to live in complete surrender to something, with complete disregard for anything else.”[2]

For today, I’d like to put those two definitions together. Let’s consider our life and whether we are deciding to enjoy our life, making the best of what is going on around us while completely surrendering to something (in our case, someone) with disregard for outside influences.

My life verse describes what I would call living with abandon. I’m not saying I do this well, or as often as I should, but it is an aspirational goal for me.

“I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20, NIV)

I want to live life, not as my flesh wants, but as Christ would have me live it. Again, easier said than done for me. This action of living with abandon means I put aside myself daily, crucified so to speak, so that everything I think, say, and do are driven by faith in the Son of God.

Wouldn’t it be great if, like the kitesurfer, we strap on the Word of God and allow the Holy Spirit to take us where He would have us go, like the wind and ocean are taking him?

That’s my encouragement for you this week. May you die to yourself and live life with abandon under the direction and protection of Jesus.

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[1] https://www.google.com/search?q=live+life+with+abandon+meaning&sca_esv=553555439&sxsrf=AB5stBiDjIuMaMDvHV1Cj-tapFRHSieZ0A%3A1691098503822&ei=hx3MZNLSMc6oqtsPoJC3uAQ&oq=live+life+with+abandon+meaning&gs_lp=Egxnd3Mtd2l6LXNlcnAiHmxpdmUgbGlmZSB3aXRoIGFiYW5kb24gbWVhbmluZyoCCAAyBRAAGIAEMgYQABgWGB4yBhAAGBYYHjIGEAAYFhgeMggQABiKBRiGAzIIEAAYigUYhgNI_yJQ6gVY9BRwAHgCkAEAmAGFAaABrAeqAQMwLji4AQHIAQD4AQHCAgQQABhH4gMEGAAgQYgGAZAGCA&sclient=gws-wiz-serp#ip=1

[2] https://liveitblog.wordpress.com/2008/04/24/living-with-abandon-acts-2013-38/