What Can Happen Over a Cup of Coffee

After staying up until an unholy time of night last night, I somehow managed to pull myself out of bed pretty early this morning to go meet a friend for some coffee. I hadn't seen Jill all summer so that definitely made the whole disagreeable getting-out-of-bed part worth it.
Jill and I exchanged summaries of our summer and some of the crazy stuff that had been going on in both of our lives. She delivered the shocking news that her ex-boyfriend, almost fiance, was now gay. Apparently, he had been struggling with it for some time but she had only just found out this summer. The news floored me. How could someone that, by outer appearances, looked so godly and ready to serve the Lord and inwardly be struggling with something that big for a long time? Wow.
Jill took the news as a challenge to become even more outspoken about her faith and to reach out to others who were struggling with the same problem of homosexuality. She's such a challenge to me, that girl.
Honestly, I have been majorly struggling with my walk with the Lord this summer and talking to Jill was like a smack in the face. Jill said 'Every time I'm tempted to sin with my thought life, the way I talk, what I do, I just always tell myself: JESUS IS BETTER.' Isn't that true, guys? Jesus is worth SO much more than the temporary pleasure that sin is going to give you. That phrase is going to stick with me for a long time. It reminds me of Philippians 3:7-10.
But whatever things were gain to me, those things I count as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith; that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.
And wow. I want to be able to say that that is my life goal too. To count all things as loss for the sake of the gospel. He's worth so much more than anything this earth has to offer.
After our coffee date, I came home and cried and prayed my heart out. I had been living in the shadow of worldliness, not using my life for the purpose for which it was really made. I hope, with the help of Jesus, to begin living my life in a way that honors and glorifies Him and not the world.
I want my life to count for something!
                                                              JESUS IS BETTER.