J. Hudson Taylor cautions, "The real secret of an unsatisfied life lies too often in an unsurrendered will." Paul the apostle shares three keys to a life worth living in 2 Corinthians 5:14-15.

First, there is the love we are to live with. 2 Corinthians 5:14a reads, "For the love of Christ compels us..." W. H. Griffith Thomas comments, "The supreme force in the Apostle's life was 'the love of Christ,' and this not merely his own love to the Lord Jesus, but the Lord's love to him. It was this that 'constrained' him, 'hemmed him in' (2 Cor. v 14. . .), and impelled him to live for Christ not for himself. When this love fills every crevice of life it is felt to be 'so amazing, so divine,' that it 'Demands our soul, our life, our all.' And in the power and glow of this love we plead, and persuade, and beseech men to be reconciled to God."

Second, there is the logic we are to live by. 2 Corinthians 5:14b-15a reads, "because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died; and He died for all..." F. W. Robertson explains the following about, "The law of redeemed humanity, 'If one died for all, then all died.' There are two kinds of death — one in sin, before redemption; the other to sin, which is redemption. Here it is of the death to sin. If one died as the representative of all, then in that death all died. This is the great thought throughout this Epistle. Every Christian is dead in Christ's death, and risen in Christ's resurrection."

Third, there is the Lord we are to live for. 2 Corinthians 5:15b reads, "that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again." This changes our outlook on life as our focus moves from ourselves to others. John C. Maxwell observes, "There is no life as empty as the self-centered life. There is no life as centered as the self-empty life." Jesus is the prime example of the self-empty life as we read in Philippians 2:5-8, "Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross." May we sing in the words of Thomas O. Chisholm:

"Living for Jesus, a life that is true,
Striving to please Him in all that I do;
Yielding allegiance, glad-hearted and free,
This is the pathway of blessing for me."

Sadly, so many living today settle for so much less. Are you living a life worth living?

Dr. Franklin L. Kirksey of Robertsdale, is the author of "Don't Miss the Revival!" Messages for Revival and Spiritual Awakening from Isaiah.