Why Living Your Dream Falls Short of God’s Best
- Jack Selcher
- Sep 10, 2025
- 3 min read
Updated: 2 days ago
Summary
“Living the dream” promises fulfillment but rarely delivers lasting satisfaction. Personal dreams often become idols that distract us from God’s purposes and the good works He prepared for us. Life is not self-centered but God-centered. Jesus calls us to seek God’s kingdom first, not our own agendas. True contentment and an abundant life are found only in God, not in achieving personal dreams.
The Allure of “Living the Dream”
Before track practice started, I asked a fellow high school track coach, “How are you today?”
He said, “I am living the dream.”
He loved coaching. I do also, but for me, it is not living the dream.
Some would say that is okay. Living the dream is different for different people. Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “Dare to live the life you have dreamed for yourself. Go forward and make your dreams come true.”1
Our dreams flesh out what we value most. For some adults, living the dream is retiring early. For others, it might be an untroubled home life.
For a kid, it might be playing a sport professionally. There is nothing wrong with having a goal, but thinking that achieving it will bring lasting satisfaction is a delusion.
In our dreams, we imagine an ideal, self-focused existence. We prioritize what we can become, do, or achieve to validate and give meaning to, and maximize our earthly existence.
A God-Centered Reality
The reality, however, is that we live in a God-centered universe. He made and governs everything. Life is not about us. It is about Him.
Jesus said, “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” (Matthew 6:33 NIV). Seeking what we value most usually competes with pursuing what God values most. God wants us to love Him with all of our being and to love our neighbors as ourselves (Matthew 22:37-39).
When Dreams Become Distractions
When we chase our dreams, we bench ourselves in the Super Bowl to play a football video game. When we try to maximize personal success, we are not fully available for the good works God has prepared for us (Ephesians 2:10).
Pursuing our dreams distracts us. It hurts all the people we could be helping if we weren’t all tied up following our agenda. We are wasting our God-given resources. The dream is our idol.
True Satisfaction Found in God
Achieving my dreams did not deliver all the benefits I expected. I repeatedly experienced letdowns.
Those who are living their dream are rarely honest enough with themselves and others to admit that it is not as wonderful as they imagined it would be. Contentment inevitably wanes after their dream has become reality.
To think life is about living our dream is like trying to fill a colander with water instead of using it to drain cooked vegetables. The manufacturer designed the colander to allow water to run through it, not hold it.
God designed us to live for and find lasting satisfaction only in Him (John 10:10). We look elsewhere in vain. See additional free spiritual growth resources for Christians.
God has empowered me to write His Power for Your Weakness—260 Steps Toward Spiritual Strength. It’s a free, evangelistic, devotional, and discipleship e-book. Pastors have used it in Malawi, Mozambique, and Zambia to lead 7,590 people to Christ and teach the basics of Christianity to 17,681 people. I invite you to explore and use it in your setting.
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