A Good and Beautiful Life

Do you feel that you have a beautiful life? Honestly. Do you think that the life you have is good? There are definitely times that I question this, but when I sit down and really think about it, yes, I do have a good and beautiful life. And this is what my thoughts are on today.
 Some people may not feel they have a good and beautiful life. And my question is, why not? What is the thing that is causing you to miss out on this good life? Now, trace it back to the sin that it came from. Unless you are in denial, your mind probably went straight to what that sin was. For me, part of my life that is not sparkly and beautiful is my relationship with my in-laws. It has come a long way, but it is not perfect. What can that be traced back to? Pride. Thinking I know better. Selfishness. Not willing to try to understand them and their culture. Jealousy. That my husband would care for them more than he would care for me. So the question is, why am (or was I) I holding on to these things? Are these things benefiting me in any way? No. Are they furthering my walk with the Lord? Definitely not. Shining His light to those around me. No way. God does not want me to live a life holding on to fleshly desires and sins. He wants me to live a good and beautiful life full of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. He wants me to get rid of the flesh and bring in the Spirit. When I first encountered this idea I thought I was losing something. Part of who I was, being straight forward (aka bitchy), not letting anyone walk all over me (prideful), etc. But now I have realized I am only missing out on the bad things, not anything good. I recently read a book that put it perfectly into words. "The question is not, What will I have to give up to follow Jesus? but rather, What will I never get to experience if I choose not to follow Jesus? The answer is clear: we will forfeit the chance to live a good and beautiful life." The Good and Beautiful Life-James Bryan Smith. By insisting that I don't give up the ugly parts of me, I am forfeiting the beautiful life Jesus wants for me. By not handing over the bad sins of the flesh, I am not allowing the good. A commentary by Dallas Willard on John 10:10 illuminates this even more. "Nondiscipleship costs abiding peace, a life penetrated throughout by love, faith that sees everything in light of God's overriding governance for good, hopefulness that stands firm in the most discouraging of circumstances, power to do what is right and withstand the forces of evil. In short, it costs exactly that abundance of life Jesus said he came to bring." So the definition of goodness, to me, is giving Jesus the bad and living the beautiful life he designed for me. Do you want a beautiful life? I do. So I am going to work on handing over the bad, which is anything that is me and not Him.