Leading The Way

Dr. Michael Youssef: When you invite Jesus Christ to come into your life, He lights your life. And you must be willing to let Him put His searchlight into every area of your life. But look, let's be honest. You know and I know that that's not easy. Deep down, we resist the shining of the light in certain areas of our lives. And when that happens, what you are doing is you are depriving yourself of the joy that can give your life at its best.

Host (Male): Thank you for joining listeners throughout six continents for Leading The Way, featuring longtime pastor and author of more than 50 books, including his culture-changing An Unholy Alliance, Dr. Michael Youssef. What does it look like to live life to the fullest? Many chalk it up to having an overflowing bank account or being regarded as a highly influential and respected member of a community.

But the apostle John offers a different perspective. Today, Dr. Youssef begins an intriguing series called Life At Its Best, offering biblical answers to life. And keep in mind, Leading The Way is a listener-supported worldwide gospel ministry using media as a tool. Learn ways that you can stand with Dr. Youssef when you visit ltw.org or speak with a call center representative at 866-626-4356. More on that later. Right now, Dr. Michael Youssef begins today's teaching.

Dr. Michael Youssef: If I asked the question, "How many of you would want to live life at its best?" most likely, I would get just about every hand raised. And that's good, and that's right, because God created us to live life at its best. It is God's desire for each one of us to live our life at its best. But the question arises of the definition of "best." What does "best" mean? What does life at its best mean? Who decides what is best?

I thought it's better for me to illustrate what I'm trying to say with a story someone actually wrote. It's about a young man who went to the beach for vacation. And he took his goldfish with him. He would go every morning and soak the sun, enjoy the surf, and love life at its best for him. But after a few days of doing that, he began to feel guilty. "Here I am, enjoying life in the sun and the surf, but Goldy is all by himself there in the condominium."

So one day, out of guilt, he said, "I'd better help Goldy get part of that action." So he said, "Goldy, tomorrow you and I are going to get some action. You're going to come and enjoy life at its best just like I do." So in the morning, he takes Goldy out of the fishbowl, and he wraps him in a washcloth and takes him with him to the beach. And there he puts Goldy right next to him. And he sat in the sun and he looks at Goldy and says, "Now Goldy, that is life at its best. Live it up. Live it up."

And if you say to me, "There couldn't be no more foolishness than this," you're right. There couldn't be no more foolishness than that. Why? Because life at its best for that goldfish was not meant to be on the beach, or any fish for that matter, because it will most surely die. It was never intended to be in that environment. It is not life at its best for that fish or for any fish. And if you got that message by now, you really have grasped the whole message of 1 John, to which I want you to turn now in your Bibles.

1 John chapter 1. Life at its best. It is lived when it is lived in the right environment, when it is lived the way God made it to live, the way God intended for it to live. True life at its best, however, has a beginning, has a middle, and has a continuation. And those are my three points. Life at its best: the only way to begin it, that is verses 1 to 4. Life at its best: the only way to sustain it, verses 5 to 7. Thirdly, life at its best: the only way to grow in it, verses 8 to 10.

The only way to begin life at its best, verses 1 to 4. And let me give you background first. The apostle John lived to be an old man. He lived to be in his 90s. And one thing about living a long time is that you see things you never thought you were going to see in your life. And so after the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD, many of the believers fled Jerusalem. And John was one of them, and he ended up in Ephesus for a period of time.

Of course, he was in Patmos, where he had this great revelation, the book of Revelation, which we have as the last book in the Bible. But he lived most of his life in Ephesus. But in the church of Ephesus, there was another man by the name of Cerinthus. Now Cerinthus originally believed in the gospel message that was preached by the apostle Paul in Ephesus. But then he didn't like the truth of the gospel. He didn't like the teaching of the apostles. He didn't like the fact that Jesus is the only Son of God.

He did not like the exclusivity of Christ in the gospel message. He did not like the fact that it is only through faith alone one can be saved. So he began to teach new philosophy. He began to teach a heresy, and he split the church in Ephesus. That new philosophy was later known as Gnosticism. And it says basically that Jesus is not God in human flesh, because he said the body is evil and therefore God could not become human.

And so Jesus, he said, was adopted by God at the time of baptism, and he became the Son of God until before the cross, and then God dumped him. He no longer was the Son of God. Cerinthus taught that salvation is a matter of attaining higher knowledge, and the more knowledge you attain, the more salvation you get. And that is why throughout the epistle of John, John wanted to say—and you notice I said "wanted to say," I didn't say "said." I'm going to say it for him.

He says, "What knowledge you talking about, you silly boy?" That's really what he wanted to say. And I'll tell you how. Because his polite way of saying it is he constantly repeated saying, "We know, we know, we know, we know." In other words, "I was personally with Jesus. I saw Jesus firsthand. I experienced Jesus firsthand. I lived with Jesus firsthand. I have heard him with my own ears firsthand. I have walked with him. I laid my head on his shoulder. I know him."

"And this mumbo-jumbo that you're coming up with, all this mumbo-jumbo that you're talking about, has nothing to do with reality, has nothing to do with the truth." And later on, of course, some of Cerinthus's disciples began to write his teaching, 150 years after Christ. And they would write them and they would tack the names of the apostles to them. And so they looked like the Gospel of Thomas and the Gospel of Paul and the Gospel of Mary and the Gospel of this and the Gospel of that.

And the apostles have nothing to do with that teaching. They are all fraudulent, and they're trying to sell us a bill of goods. So here is what John is saying, that there is only one way to begin life at its best, only one way. Any other beginning is a false beginning. Any other beginning is a goldfish in the sun. Any other beginning will lead to death. And because false beginnings will lead to false endings, and because false beginnings will lead to false destinations, and because a false beginning is going to lead to false living and to tragic ends, therefore, listen to what John said, verse 1, 1 John 1:1.

"That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our own eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of Life." As if to say, "Who are you going to believe? This babbling idiot who has never seen or experienced the living Lord Jesus, or my word of testimony of an eyewitness of a life lived with him? That he is the only giver of life at its best."

"Who are you going to believe? This philosophical mumbo-jumbo or the one who experienced everything firsthand?" And he said life begins, real life, life that's worth living, life that's at its best—it begins when you do what John did, and that is have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. And that's what Jesus himself said. Listen to John 17:3, the high priestly prayer, when Jesus was praying. Jesus's own words, listen carefully. "Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent."

Life at its best has only one rightful beginning: believing that Jesus Christ alone can save you eternally. That is the beginning, but it's only the beginning. You cannot begin life at its best—it doesn't matter where you are and what your circumstances are—you cannot begin life at its best by trying harder, by doing some good, by trying to earn it, by trying to perform certain rituals or certain duties. No. How does it begin?

Verses 3 and 4: "We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ." And why? Verse 4: "So that you may have real joy." Listen to me: Joy is born, not bought. All the money in the world cannot buy you joy. Joy produces happiness, not the other way around. Joy is not dependent on your circumstances.

Life at its best: the only way to begin it. Secondly, the only way to stay in it. Life at its best begins with light at its best. When you invite Jesus Christ to come into your life, he lights your life. And you must be willing to let him put his searchlight into every corner and area and department of your life. But let's be honest. You know and I know that that's not easy. You know and I know that there are areas in our lives in which we say, "Lord, you can shine the light on all these areas, especially the public me, but there's an area here that I really don't want you to touch."

Or if he shines the light, you kind of try to shield it. You know what area it is. I know what area it is in my life. You know what it is. Deep down, we resist the shining of the light in certain areas of our lives. Deep down. And when that happens, what you're doing is you are depriving yourself of the joy that can give your life at its best. Listen to me. You and I know what it's like to dig our heels and say, "Not that area, Lord. Do everything else except this one, Lord."

Which reminds me of a story that's well known in the Middle East about the Bedouin who got hungry in the middle of the night. So he got up, lit a candle, and grabbed some dates that he had there in a corner of his tent. And so he took the first date and put it near the candle light, and he saw this big worm just looking at him. So he said, "Well, obviously I can't eat this one," so he tossed it out.

He got another one, and he was about to eat it, looked at it close to the light of the candle, and he saw this huge worm coming out at him. So he tossed that one out. Well, before long, he thought he's going to go hungry and not going to eat any of those dates because every one of them has a worm. So what does he do? What every respectable man does. He let the candle out and ate the dates, worms and all.

Listen, verse 5: "God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim we have fellowship with him, yet walk in darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth." In other words, he's saying we're going to eat the worms. Verse 7: "But if we walk in the light, as he is the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ, his Son, purifies us," or keeps on purifying us, or keeps on cleansing us from how many sins? All our sins. Not just some of them.

John loves to begin with the beginning. In his gospel, he starts, "In the beginning." And here in the epistle, he starts first verse, "That which was from the beginning." He loves to begin with the beginning. Why? Because at the beginning of the creation, God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. Why? Because without light, there can be no plants, there can be no animals, there can be no growth, there can be no activities, there can be no beauty, there can be no sustaining of creation.

There can be no life at all without light. All of creation owes its existence and its sustenance upon light. And in the same way, John is saying that Jesus, who is the light of the world, does not only give life at its best, but his light is the only way that his children can live in joy and in power, can be sustained and strengthened and have victory over sin in the midst of temptation.

Far from being afraid of the searchlight coming into your life and pointing to some areas that you don't want, far from being afraid, you should welcome it. You should invite it. You should delight in it. Because when the light shines, darkness gets out of the way. When light shines, reality will set in. When light shines, truth will dwell in you. When his light shines, gloom and doom and depression and discouragement all are going to get out and disappear.

But the question is, how do I know that I'm regularly walking in the light? How do I know that? Here is where it really gets hard. John said, "By having love for others." Love for others? Yeah, I love everybody, Michael. But don't bother me with that. Yeah, I love everyone. No, wait a minute. Don't run. The main thing that's going to keep a child of light in darkness or going through a dark patch, the main thing that is going to keep you from experiencing the fullness of joy, the main thing that will keep you from living life at its best is the carrying of bitterness in your life.

It is the holding onto grudges in your life. It's the harboring of sin. It is the cherishing of sin. It is the unconfessing of sin. It is the hiding of sin in your life. It's going to keep you from walking in the light. Therefore, you may not lose your salvation, but you lose your joy. You may not lose your salvation, but surely you're going to lose your reward when you continue to walk in darkness, when you continue to harbor what you're harboring.

I had numerous people who have come to me through the years and would say something to the effect, "I feel terrible, Michael. I am more conscious of my sin right now than before I became a believer in Christ. I feel bad, I feel terrible." And my response is, "You should rejoice!" The fact that you are conscious of sin in your life is a clear indication that you're walking in the light.

Before Christ, you were dead and you were unconscious of sin. But now you're no longer in the grip of sin. You did not know what light looks like, but now you do. And once you do, once you experience life at its best, once you begin to experience walking in light, now you know what it's like to go through dark patches in life. So you rejoice, not feel morbid or disappointed. It's good news. That should not depress you, child of the living God. It should encourage you.

Life at its best: the only way you begin it. Secondly, the only way you sustain it. Thirdly, the only way you grow in it. When the light of Christ shines in your life and in my life, we become conscious of sin. Of course. And if you're not, then you haven't been born yet. You're still dead in your sins and trespasses. But once you become conscious of sin, that's half of the good news. Here's the other half.

The other half of the good news is that there is only one way to deal with that consciousness of sin. Only one way. And that is to confess it. Look at verse 8: "If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. But if we confess..." He didn't say if we confess or if we do this and if we do that. He didn't give you three other or four options. One option: If you confess, meaning that's the only way.

So what is confession? Here is what John is saying to us. It's a recognition that a particular action or inaction or an attitude or a thought or behavior is morally wrong in the eyes of God, and to accept personal responsibility for that wrong. But that's not all. Then you must follow that with a specific request of confessing that sin, asking for the Lord's forgiveness of that sin, and then his empowerment to have victory over that sin.

That's what he said: identify the wrong, take personal responsibility, ask God for mercy and grace to deal with both. That's as far as offense to God is concerned. And offending another person works the same way. Works the same way. Acknowledging, confessing, and asking for forgiveness. So what does God do in response to this heartfelt confession? John said, because God is true to his word, because God is true to his character, because God is true to his promises, because God is faithful to his nature, you can be confident that your sins are forgiven and that you are cleansed and that you're being restored.

Why? Because you have a lawyer in heaven that all the money in the world could not afford. You have an advocate in heaven. You have a patron in heaven. The Lord Jesus Christ is constantly interceding on your behalf to God the Father. That is why. You have a very important person in heaven who is speaking on your behalf, who is saying a good word on your behalf. He's saying, "Michael confessed. Father, here are the marks and the wounds of the cross. Forgive him." And the Father forgives you and forgives me.

Don't ever, ever, ever forget. I'm going to close. I don't want you to forget what I'm going to tell you. Listen carefully. The work of Jesus Christ is both finished and unfinished. His work as the high priest who offered the perfect sacrifice for your sin and mine, that work is finished. But his being an advocate who is interceding on your behalf, that work is not finished. As a redeemer, his work is finished. But as a restorer, his work is not finished. As a savior on the cross, his work is finished. But as a sustainer on the throne, his work is not finished. As a justifier, his work is finished. But as a sanctifier, his work is not finished. We have an advocate with the Father.

Host (Male): Thank you for joining listeners throughout six continents for Leading The Way with Dr. Michael Youssef. Today's episode is appropriately called Living in the Light. And if you'd like to speak with a pastor or a counselor about living in the light, begin at ltw.org/jesus. Ltw.org/jesus.

Hey, are you signed up for My Devotional? It's a daily email from Dr. Youssef that helps you pause and reflect on a verse or two from the Bible and how truth in God's word can be invited into your life of faith, helping you grow and mature. My Devotional is perfect content for break time at work or fueling conversation around a meal or coffee. And if podcasts are something you find valuable, My Devotional is also available as a daily audio podcast. Many find it inspiring while commuting or sometime during their daily routine.

Dr. Michael Youssef: This is Michael Youssef, and you're listening to today's My Devotional from Leading The Way. Uncompromising truth for everyday faith. The 7th of April, 2026. The Power of Prayer. There is no power over temptation nor victory over sin without spending time with God in prayer. James Montgomery, who was a great man of prayer...

Host (Male): Start your free subscription or email or podcast when you visit ltw.org. This program is brought to you by Leading The Way with Dr. Michael Youssef, passionately proclaiming uncompromising truth around the world. Reach the team at ltw.org. Ltw.org. Or give us a call: 866-626-4356. 866-626-4356.