Can Enjoying Everyday Interests Like Stories or Games Reflect a Life Rooted in God’s Grace?
Orientation
Many believers struggle with guilt, wondering if their personal interests and enjoyment of life are at odds with a serious spiritual walk.
- The false assumption that 'spiritual' life must erase normal human life and interests.
- The pressure to either reject 'secular' enjoyment or turn every hobby into a ministry project.
- The resulting confusion that makes it hard to simply receive the life God has given.
For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving: (1 Timothy 4:4)
— 1 Timothy 4:4
Clarification
Glorifying God is not about making your interests religious, but about the posture of your heart as you receive them as gifts.
- Your capacity for enjoyment reflects being made in God's image; it is part of the 'earthen vessel' He fills.
- The error is not in the interest itself, but in letting it become an idol that replaces Christ as your source of life.
- Balance comes from being anchored in Christ first, which allows other enjoyments to find their proper, thankful place.
But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us. (2 Corinthians 4:7)
— 2 Corinthians 4:7
Structure
The Christian life involves two concurrent realities: our unchanging spiritual union with Christ and the natural human life He sovereignly gave us to live.
- Our eternal life is 'Christ in you,' your righteousness, sanctification, and reward (1 Corinthians 1:30).
- Your natural life—with its relationships, household, and interests—is the vessel through which that treasure is expressed.
- These two realities are not opposed; the spiritual does not annihilate the natural but redeems and fills it.
Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all. (Colossians 3:11)
— Colossians 3:11
Weight-Bearing Prose
The core assertion is that God values the human life He created. From a Pauline perspective, the believer possesses two concurrent realities: an unchanging spiritual position ‘in Christ’ (justified, sealed, a co-heir) and a natural, earthly life. This natural life—including personality, interests, and capacity for enjoyment—is the ‘earthen vessel’ (2 Cor. 4:7) sovereignly given by God. It is not a competing program to be spiritualized away or condemned as ‘flesh.’ The error of over-spiritualization (mystical legalism) calls good things unclean and rejects the humanity Christ Himself engaged with. The opposite error is worldly idolatry, making created things the ultimate source of joy. The biblical path is to receive all good things with thanksgiving (1 Tim. 4:4), recognizing them as part of the canvas of the life in which Christ is to be expressed. Glorifying God, therefore, is not an external project of Christianizing hobbies, but an internal posture. It flows from having Christ as your ‘living fountain’ (John 4:14) and primary satisfaction. From that settled union, interests can be enjoyed as refreshments, not addictions; as gifts, not gods. This reflects the balance seen in Christ, who attended weddings and feasts while His ‘meat’ was to do the Father’s will (John 4:34).
Integration
Rest here: Christ is your life. Your assurance and identity are not tied to how spiritually you enjoy your hobbies, but to your faith in the finished work of Christ. He is your righteousness, your sanctification, your reward. The pressure is off. You can simply receive the life God has given you—your household, your interests, your personality—with thanksgiving. Enjoy that story, that game, that music as a gift from your Father’s hand. Let your heart be light with gratitude. As you grow in knowing Christ as your all-sufficient portion, you will naturally hold His good gifts loosely, free from both guilt and idolatry. Your life, in all its ordinary details, is the vessel He fills. There is no hierarchy here, only the steady, assuring truth that you are complete in Him.