In 2014, the video shown below won Best Male Video and Video of the Year at the MTV Video Music Awards. It became the first online 24-hour music video. The song was a number-one best-seller in 26 countries, including the US. In the UK, it has been downloaded more than any other song in history. We will use it today to illustrate how to live a life you love. Can you guess the song? Watch the video to find out:

In this video, more than 100 people dance to the beat of the song. Every person moves and dresses differently. Each one dances on his or her specific home turf. Some of the dancers are highly skilled, some are just randomly funky, some perform in groups, and one woman is even in a wheelchair.

All of the dancers had a blast fully expressing their unique identity!

What if YOU did that, not just in a music video, but every single day of your real life? You would live more authentically, joyfully, and on purpose for Christ!

3 Steps to More Purpose, Joy, and Authenticity:

1.  Discover your core values.

Your core values define what is important to you and what gives you purpose and joy. Most people have 5-7 values (or value clusters of similar values) that identify who they are at the core. Each person’s core values are unique. Even if two people share the same core values, they define and live them differently.

To discover your core values, prayerfully ask these questions:

• What has always made me smile, even as a young child?
• What am I doing when I lose all track of time?
• What people do I love to be around?
• Where do I love to go?
• What would I do more of, if I didn’t feel so guilty about wasting the time or money?
• What makes me stop and say, “That is AWESOME!”?
• Whom do I admire, or who inspires me? What qualities about them do I like?
• What would I regret not doing, accomplishing, experiencing, or being, before I die?
• What do people say I obsess about?
• When in the past did I feel I was most alive and “in the zone”?
• What dreams have I almost given up on?
• If I had unlimited time, money, and health, what would I do?
• For more detailed info about how to discover your core values, click here to read a blog about that.

2.  Ask Jesus what He values about you.

Ask Jesus this question: “Jesus, what do you truly value about me?” Then just listen for 30-60 seconds, simply and trustfully. What did you see, hear, think, or feel, from Jesus?

Don’t confuse yourself by doubting that what you heard was really from Jesus. If it sounds like the Jesus of Scripture, it probably was!

3.  Live your values more fully and regularly.

Write down the core values that you discovered from the above exercises. Then prayerfully ask yourself these questions:

• On a scale of 1-10, how fully are you living your core values?
• What changes do you need to make in your life, to more fully and regularly live each one of your core values?
• What difference would it make in your life if you more fully and regularly lived the uniquely created YOU?!

Psalm 139:13-14:
It was you who formed my inward parts;
    you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
    Wonderful are your works;
that I know very well.

What did you discover?

Feel free to comment or ask questions below.