How to level up in your spiritual life

Sometimes I wish my spiritual life were more like a video game. If you accomplished certain goals each day, you would receive points. They would be called “goodies,” of course, and if you got enough goodies, you would level up. Each level would put you one step closer to God and would allow you to be spiritually stronger and thus have a more fulfilling life. Throughout the day you would still encounter various challenges or “baddies.” When baddies were overcome, you would end up with more power-ups and XP, and would level up much more easily. Occasionally you would end up having to defeat a boss, which (like any good video game) inevitably turn up at the end of important levels. Beating a boss would give you massive XP, making your character stronger than ever.

So today might look like this (Saturday):
• Playing with the kids in the snow = +20XP
• Playing a game on my new phone = -5XP
• Writing this post = +10
• Not helping my wife prepare dinner = -20
• Shoveling snow off the walkway for trick or treaters = +10 (Wait, what?)

So, not exactly a level up day, but not going backwards either.

Although this kind of thinking seems appealing, of course a works system would break down to something ugly. God’s system of grace is a whole lot better:

Good day = Loved by God.
Bad day = Still loved by God.

I think i'll stick with grace.