I have been exhausted lately. 

I haven’t been sleeping well which apparently impacts you more in your thirties than twenties. No more all nighters finishing off a paper due the next day or because I WANTED and CHOSE to stay up all night for fun! 🥴

When I’m tired I don’t write, do my devos, workout, make plans, serve or connect with people as much. I don’t like allowing my energy level to affect my life that much, because it’s far from the abundant life I strive to live. 

Abundant Life

My whole purpose of this blog is to equip Christian singles to live abundantly with and for Jesus. I’ve mentioned abundant life before in my Do You Feel Left Behind as a Christian Single and Feeling Discontent in Singleness posts. But today we’re going to dive into what abundant life means, how Jesus lived it and why it is important to live abundantly as a single.

This phrase abundant life is not from me, it’s actually from Jesus in the book of John. This is where Jesus proclaims Himself as the good shepherd. In the middle of that analogy He says, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”¹

To be honest I get a little confused in this analogy because Jesus says the one who enters by the door is the Shepherd, but He also says “I am the door”². You can read the full passage below, but either way door=shepherd=Jesus. Whoever does not enter by the door/shepherd/Jesus is a thief.³ The thief is antagonistic to the Shepherds’ purpose. Satan is the ultimate thief, looking to steal, kill and destroy those who are following Jesus.

Especially in singleness, Satan can steal your joy and satisfaction by killing your dreams and purpose, destroying your hope, and distracting you away from living abundantly in singleness.

Thank the good Lord for sending Jesus. 

Jesus, unlike Satan, has come so the sheep (you and me) may have LIFE, but He doesn’t stop there, it’s an abundant or full life. Jesus laid down His life for His sheep to live abundantly.

Abundance is defined as, having a copious quantity of something or plentifulness. Abundant life means an overflowing life, it’s more life than you need or deserve. The popularity of this word has been on a steady decline since the 1800s⁴ and I’m here to bring it back.

Jesus didn’t just talk the talk, he walked the walk and demonstrated what this copious, plentiful life looked like. By following His steps we can understand how to live abundantly as a single too. 

Here’s three ways Jesus’ lived abundantly: 

1. He Spent Time With the Father 

For Jesus, abundant life was impossible without spending time with God. His relationship with God was something He prioritized throughout His ministry. You can read in multiple places how Jesus went alone to pray. One example happens before He chose the 12 disciples. “Now during those days he went out to the mountain to pray, and he spent the night in prayer to God.”⁵ I can imagine He was coming to the Father for wisdom and rest. For Jesus there was no way to live fully, without investing in His relationship with the Father. 

2. He Loved People 

Jesus was the ultimate example of how to love people. In many translations of the Bible, His love is described as compassion for people. He was sympathetic to their physical, emotional and spiritual needs. Jesus lived a full life because of the way He loved people; He met them where they were at, spoke truth to them and allowed God to use Him to impact their lives.

Genuine love or compassion is missing from many churches and my own life as well, but since the greatest commandments are to LOVE God and LOVE others, it may be the most important quality for an abundant life.

3. He Was Mission-Focused 

Jesus came to the world to save it, not condemn it;⁶ that was His mission. He fulfilled His purpose humbly and perfectly. Fulfilling the mission required making disciples so people would continue to be saved by the gospel. In His final words on earth, Jesus commissioned His disciples to also make disciples of all nations.⁷

Jesus’ mission of making disciples was always at the fore-front of His mind, which is what ensured He was living abundantly. The world preaches prosperity, money and success but that’s not abundance. Abundance doesn’t necessarily look like we think it should. For Jesus His abundant life also meant being crucified and resurrected. Ouch, I hope that’s not what my abundant life looks like!

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Looking at how Jesus lived His life spending time with God, loving people and focusing on His mission, gives believers the example of how they can also live abundantly. Abundant life isn’t just for married people or families, it is for EVERYONE. 

Abundant life may be…

Building your relationship with God through fasting or daily Bible readings.

Showing love through shovelling your neighbours sidewalk or taking a lonely friend for dinner.

Living missionally by telling a coworker about Jesus or asking God to direct the vision for your life.  

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Equipping singles specifically to live abundantly with and for Jesus became my motto, so here are the reasons I am passionate about living abundantly as a single:

• Jesus said it was why He came and laid down His life, so it must be vital.
• Jesus was SINGLE and lived abundantly – we tend to forget the single part.
• Since abundant life is the opposite of the life the thief would have for you, one way to fight against the enemy is by living abundantly.
• I personally am single and want to live abundantly, not in the passive tired way I described at the beginning. 
• It gives purpose and joy to singleness. 
• It prevents a passive, waiting, single season; waiting to get married, establish your career or buy that home in the suburbs. 

I believe singles can live abundantly and change the world NOW!

Singleness can be a beautiful time to focus on your relationship with God, loving others and your mission. Jesus embodied abundant life in those three ways.

Often I hear about contentment in singleness. I say (or write) it myself regularly. Contentment is good, but it can come across passive and lackluster. It sounds like you are fine with singleness and living an okay life. 

Abundance is so much more than okay and fine. It’s a full, copious, plentiful, overflowing life. Abundant living leaves no room for passivity or waiting, and it’s the life we’re called to live in singleness.

Live your life abundantly,

Mindy

“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.” This figure of speech Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.

So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.

I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.⁸

John 10:1-18 ESV

References:

1. John 10:10. The Bible. English Standard Version, Crossway, 2001.
2. John 10:9. The Bible. English Standard Version, Crossway, 2001.
3. John 10:1. The Bible. English Standard Version, Crossway, 2001.
4. “Abundance”. Oxford English Dictionary, https://www.oed.com/search/advanced/Meanings?textTermText0=abundance&textTermOpt0=WordPhrase. Accessed 7 March 2024.  
5. Luke 6:12. The Bible. New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition, Zondervan 2022.
6. John 3:17. The Bible. New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition, Zondervan 2022.
7. Matthew 28:18-20. The Bible. New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition, Zondervan 2022.
8. John 10:1-18. The Bible. English Standard Version, Crossway, 2001.