February 23

Our True Life

But Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” — Matt 4:4 BSB

There are needs in life more important than those that bread can supply. Sometimes people justify wrong or dishonorable actions by saying, “I have to live,” as if hunger excused sin like stealing, fraud, or other dishonest behavior to get bread. But it is not true that life at any cost is the ultimate good. It is certainly not true that we must live if doing so requires us to sin. We have a higher life than our physical one, and our true life is sustained by our relationship with God.

It is never right to starve our spiritual life in order to feed our physical bodies. Our first duty is to obey God’s commands, and in doing so, we find the highest good in this world. Sometimes, the best thing we can do for our life is to be willing to lose it. It is better to starve to death than to commit even the smallest sin to get bread. Jesus said, “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” Our primary concern in life should not be to get food for our bodies. Life’s true goal is to seek God’s righteousness and live in obedience to His word.

We should decide, once and for all, that we will never do anything wrong to obtain food. We must always remain faithful to God, and trust Him to take care of our physical needs. He has promised that if we seek His kingdom and righteousness above all, He will provide for us. If He allows us to suffer hunger, it is because that suffering will somehow be for our good. Even if we go hungry for a while, God will give us the strength to endure. And even if we were to die of hunger, our souls—our true selves—would live on, unstained, in God’s eternal peace and joy.