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PROGRAM D-8466
What does it mean to live in the moment, not for the moment? That’s the question I propose to answer.
Living for the Moment
Living for the moment means that we disregard the consequences of our actions for the pleasures and desires of the moment. We want what we want, and we want it now; we don’t like the idea of delayed gratification. Living for the moment is microwave living—instant everything. Not later, now. Not tomorrow, today. It is living with a very short-term perspective.
Living for the moment leads you to poor choices and dire consequences. It causes you to make bad priority decisions, to waste time and opportunities, and to squander resources and assets.
Living for the moment is living without discipline or self-control. It tries to avoid any kind of suffering—physical, mental, emotional—at whatever the cost. It is the attempt to bypass anything unpleasant, inconvenient, or uncomfortable. It tries to avoid any self-denial of any perceived need.
Living for the moment is jumping every time your body whimpers. It is putting band-aids on cancers to try to relieve the immediate pain. It is finding substitutes for real joy—like alcohol, drugs, entertainment, pain-killers, shopping, and eating.
Most people today live for the moment. How can you tell? By the priorities of their lives, by what is most important to them, and by what occupies their time, thoughts, energy, and efforts.
It should be obvious that as followers of Jesus Christ, we should not be living for the moment. In 2 Corinthians 4:18 we read, “So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” Living for the moment is living with eyes fixed on the temporary rather than the eternal.