The Jeff Cavins Show (Your Catholic Bible Study Podcast) - Life Well Lived

Episode Date: June 19, 2026

What does a life well lived look like? Jeff reflects on what it means to truly live the good life through gratitude, faithfulness, and a deep relationship with Christ. Drawing from Scripture and personal experience, Jeff explores practical habits of a life well lived. Email us with comments or questions at [e-mail]. Text “jeffcavins” to 33-777 to subscribe and get Jeff’s shownotes delivered straight to your email! Or visit https://media.ascensionpress.com/?s=&page=2&category%5B0%5D=Ascension%20Podcasts&category%5B1%5D=The%20Jeff%20Cavins%20Show for full shownotes!

This podcast is brought to you by Ascension. To discover even more free Catholic podcasts, videos, and resources, to help you live your faith every day, visit ascensionpress.com. Welcome to the Jeff Kaven Show, where we talk about the Bible, discipleship, and evangelization, putting it all together in living as activated disciples. This is show 487, Life Well Live. It's good to have you join me again this week to talk about issues like scripture, discipleship, and walking with the Lord as that modern day disciple, or as I like to call an activated disciple.

Hope you're having a good day. I hope you have an experience today where you can be with Jesus and talk to him and get into his word and figure out, how do I live life? And as I was preparing for today, I was reminded of something that a friend of mine always says. And when he's enjoying himself, he says, I'm living the good life. I'm living the good life. And with a bit of a Gaelic accent, I might add. But that's what I want to talk to you about today is life well lived. And it's just some thoughts, just some scriptures that might be encouraging for you today, something to think about.

And one of the reasons that I'm thinking about it is that it was yesterday that I said to Emily, we were talking. And I said, you know, I am such a blessed man. I am such a blessed man to do what really is in my heart for the Lord and to be able to communicate with people and to have this relationship with the Lord and my family, my friends, just so much to be grateful. for. And I've been on both sides of that fence. I've been ungrateful at times in my life. And then I've been, you know, experiencing times of a heart of gratefulness recently more and more. And I think the older you get, not that I'm old, but the older you get, I think you have more to look back on to say, God, you have been so good to me. You have been so good, so, so good. and I am blessed and I'm going to rest in that.

I'm not going to struggle. I'm not, you know, I'm not going to look elsewhere, anything like that. You are enough, Lord. And I hope that that's true with you today. And if not, and you're struggling, maybe some of these scriptures and some of the things I have to say might be an encouragement to you. I do have some scriptures and a few points.

If you want them, you can get them. It's free. It's called show notes. Simply text my name, Jeff Kaven's one. word Jeff Kavins to the number 33777. That's 3377. Okay, so are you living a good life right now? Is life well lived in your home? I hope so. I do. You know, as you read salvation history and go from Genesis to Revelation, you see constantly the blessing of the Lord. And that is his life, the life of the Trinity given to us and living in us, feeding us, and his word directing us and correcting us and

consoling us in so many ways. When you look at the church and you realize what we have in the church with the sacraments, the saints, not museum saints, real live people. They're in heaven. They ran the race and they're cheering yon, but they're doing more than cheer and yon. They'll pray for you. It's funny how some people just want to deny that. You know, they want to say, well, if you died and went to heaven, I don't want nothing to do with you. We don't have any relationship. Where in the world do you get that?

Certainly isn't the Bible. So I have this rich heritage given to me and fellowship with wonderful people. We'll talk a little bit about that. But let me start off with 2nd Peter 1, 3 through 8. Let me read this to you because this is rich. And this is a point where Peter is talking about, what we have received as Christians. Okay, so relax your heart, take it in,

and hopefully it'll stick with you throughout the day. Peter says, his divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness through the knowledge of him, who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, that through these you may escape the corruption that is in the world because of passion and become partakers of the divine nature.

For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue and virtue with knowledge and knowledge with self-control and self-control with steadfastness and steadfastness with godliness and godliness with brotherly affection and brotherly affection with love. For if these things are yours and abound, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

You talk about a home run out of the park. That is pure gold. God's word is just pure gold there. You might want to take it, I'll put it in the show notes for you, but you might want to take that throughout your day and just meditate. on all that God has given you. So let me take a moment to talk about some of the aspects of a life well-lived, okay? Certainly not exhaustive, but these come to mind, and I want to share them with you today. When we talk about the aspects of a life well-lived, I would say, number one, that a life well-lived

is the life of someone who pays attention to the condition of their soul. and I'm like you. There'll be times in my life in the past where I suddenly realize I'm not even paying attention to my soul. I'm watching TV. I'm going to sporting events. I'm reading this, studying that. And I'm doing, doing, doing so many different things. But I'm not contemplating.

I'm not taking that time to meditate and ask what is the condition of my soul. Am I living in doubt? Am I living in fear? Am I living in uncertainty? Or has my soul rested in his good work? And do I have that peace that comes from the finished work of Christ on the cross? So one of the things I would encourage you to do, to live a life well, is to have some way of constantly looking at the condition of your soul.

How did you do yesterday? How did you do this morning? You know, how'd you do last week? sometimes we say, you know, I don't even think about it. I don't really know. Well, for us who live this good life, we need to do that. We need to pay attention to our soul. I would also say, number two, to live a life well-lived means that you daily do the will of God for your vocation.

You know, if you're married, if you're a priest or a deacon, you're a religious, single, whatever your vocation happens to be. do you live daily the will of God in your life? Now, I know that when we talk about the will of God, that's a great discussion starter. You know, what is the will of God? We can come up with all kinds of things for discussion on that. You know, the will of God is to love your neighbor. The will of God is to love your wife as Christ love the church. To do the will of God is to turn the other cheek when someone strikes you or to love your enemy.

I mean, this is all the will of God. great for discussion, great for writing books, great for podcasts. But do you daily do this? Are you cognizant of daily doing the will of God as a father, as a mother, as a priest, as a deacon, as a generous single person? Or are these just theological categories that get discussed and momentarily thought about? But it's the doing of it that results in life well lived. It's doing. the will of God? Take, for example, today, have you done the will of God today? Think back. What'd you do? What'd you say? Who'd you meet with, right? What were your expectations? How'd you deal with insults? How did you deal with barriers in the way in your life? What did you do about disappointing

news? You know, did you take the opportunity to bless someone? Was there an opportunity when you went into Walmart earlier today to help someone or to love someone or give a good word. So to live a life well lived, we need to daily do the will of God. And that that leads us on to something else, and that is to be in the word of God, you know, on a daily basis. The people who live well are the people who dwell in God's word. And that's not just the user's manual. That gives direction for your life. It gives direction for your life. And it accompanies you in every up and down, in every decision, every encounter in your life, every new season in your life. So number three, I would say to live a life well lived means that you deal with sin in your life.

And the peace of God will rule in your life. Part of living well is understanding the nature of sin and understanding and recognizing when it is beginning to develop. in your life. I don't even need to tell you about that much. I mean, you know, right? I mean, you almost intuitively know when you're missing the mark and I know I do. And sometimes it has to be pointed out. But to deal with this on a daily basis, you know, I was in my car yesterday. And I have one of these cars where you can put it on automatic drive and it is reflected on the screen in the car. and it shows my car in the middle of the lane. And I'm on automatic pilot, basically,

going down the road, speed limit, of course. And I can see that there's teeny tiny corrections made that keep me in the middle of the road. And I thank God for that because my life is on the line in driving that car and the car's doing a very good job of keeping me in the middle of the lane. Well, when it comes to your heart, your soul, you don't have that screen. You don't have that computer system in your life, but you have something better,

and that is God living in you, his word living in you, and he will keep you in the middle of that lane of life, to not go off the road, to not veer off into sin. But it's a conscious decision, you know. it's something that we have to live on purpose. To borrow that phrase of, you know, the book, A Purpose Driven Life, part of a purpose driven life or a life well lived is dealing with the edges of it,

using the road metaphor. Are you aware of that during the day? Or do you just drive willy-nilly, you know, and I just got my mind on everything else. I'm not paying that much attention to where I'm swerving in someone else's lane until, of course, they honk. And what do we do? How do we respond to their warning?

Well, you honk back. That's what we do. What would Jesus do, right? So number four, to have a life well lived means all things in moderation. All things in moderation. I've been friends with people that are in denominations where, man, there is super duper restrictions on life, you know, even having a glass of wine or if they wanted to enjoy a cigar, whatever they want to do or eat, candy, cake, whatever.

You know, in life, all things in moderation is really a good rule. And it keeps you out of diving into something that's going to take over your life and it's become a habit. And habits can lead to an unhappy life. You get into that real rut. And so part of living a life well is all things in moderation. We as Christians, we don't drink too much. We don't do things on the edge over in the margin, you know. We're right down the pipe and our eyes are on the Lord.

I don't want to go into great detail on that and start going into foods and drink and whatever else, you know. But I would say that all things in moderation is part of the life well. live. It really is. Number five, a life well lived means that you know the difference between being rich in the sense of this world and being rich in the sense of the kingdom. The kingdom. Now, this is a very important thing. I'm a rich man, by the way. I don't know if I ever shared that with you, but I am an extremely rich man. But it isn't in the way that you might think of that. You know, like, no, I don't have 25 Bitcoin. No, I don't, I don't have gazillions of dollars just sitting there.

I live in a moderate home. There's nothing really that special about it. We've got older furniture, but I'm blessed. We got a couple of cars we drive around. We typically will drive a car till it's almost dayed, you know, 250,000 miles, something like that. I don't care. But I am living a good life. I'm living well.

and I'm rich in the Lord. I'm rich in the kingdom. God knows what I need before I ask him. I have friends around me that I can fellowship with. I have multiple churches to choose from. Any day of the week, if I want to go to a holy hour or go to confession, whatever it might be. So focus on being rich in the kingdom, not rich in the sense of this world. Man, that can change overnight. You never know. Number six, living this life well or living the good life means that you have learned to be content in all things. And that's what scripture says. Listen to what Paul says here. He says in chapter four to the Philippians. He says in verses 11 through 13, not that I complain of want. for I have learned in whatever state I am to be content. That is very, very powerful. He said, I'm content, but he didn't say that it was infused contentment from the Holy Spirit. You know, just that I'm living my good life, I'm doing what I want to do and enjoying everything. And I don't know, I just ended up with being content.

That's not what he's saying. He says, I'm not complaining of one, number one. he says number two, I learned something. What did you learn there, Paul? Well, I learned that whatever state I'm in, Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, Florida, not that kind of state. He said, in whatever state that is, in the good times, and the difficult times, the challenging times, and the easy times. He said, I learned something. I learned something.

And that is, I learned to be content. I learned to be content. and that's what we're called to do. And then he goes on and says, I know how to be abased and I know how to abound in all circumstances. And I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger and abundance and want.

Now listen to what he says here. He ends this little paragraph by saying, I can do all things in him who strengthens me. Wow. That is a life well lived. Let's talk more about this right on the other side. out of the break. You're listening to the Jeff Kaven show. Someone shows up in your parish because they're being drawn towards the Catholic Church.

Maybe they can't quite explain why, but something is pulling them. OCI could be the moment that changes everything for them, where a quiet curiosity becomes a real encounter with Jesus Christ. But the gap between how OCIA is and how it could be is real. And the catechus leaving it need more than a schedule. They need vision, tools, and a program that actually forms disciples. Invited, your journey into the Catholic Church is Ascension's new OCIA program. 28 lessons that walk participants through the Catholic faith with theological depth,

personal warmth, and a focus on conversion, not just completion. Invited includes a participant guide that meets the seekers exactly where they are, a leader guide with catechus formation built right in. A trade book with questions and answers many newcomers might be afraid to ask, and a mass companion book to help them participate in the mass actively, both interiorly and exteriorly. Our hope at Ascension is that invited will help make OCI in your parish what it was always meant to be,

a true journey into life with Christ. To learn more, visit ascensionpress.com slash invited. Welcome back. Talking today about living a life well, the well-lived life and went through a few things prior to the break there. But I want to continue on with this a little bit and talk a little bit more about it in the minutes that we have left. Enjoying the good life or life well-lived is, and this might surprise you, but I found this to be true. And so did the Harvard study on happiness, by the way, which was released a few years ago, enjoying warm, affirming, trustworthy friends, friendships that endure.

Now, I travel all over the world, and I meet so many incredible people. And someone asked me in an interview, they said, what do you like about traveling and speaking around the world? And I told them what I enjoyed about it. And they said, well, don't you like about it? And I gave them an answer, but it wasn't the answer they were looking for. They were looking for hotels, food on the road, airports, TSA, all that. Granted.

But the thing I don't like about meeting so many wonderful people is I feel like I'm leaving food on the table. I so want to become friends for a longer period of time. I could name 50 people over the years. I think, man, if I lived by you, you and I'd be doing all kinds of stuff together. but you can't do that. That's called burnout, right? And you're not going to become a deep friend with many when you are a little bit of a friend to a lot of people, you know, which I am a little bit of a friend to a lot of people. But I do have a number of relationships locally that are deep.

We can get together any time. I can be myself and I can share my heart. They can share their heart with me. And I enjoy that. And having these warm affirming, trustworthy friendships is worth. keeping. It's worth building. It's worth pursuing because it does so much for your soul in the body of Christ. Another aspect of a life well lived is filling your mind with truth rather than waiting in the arguments and conspiracy theories of cable news night after night. That is key to living a life

well, fill your mind with truth. Stop waiting around in the cesspools of television and online forums and Instagram with everybody telling you what everybody else is doing wrong in the problems of America and yada yada, yeah, yada, yeah, right? I'm going to hear about all that. Don't get me wrong. I don't even have to seek it out, to be honest with you. It just kind of comes your way and find out what happened in politics or sports or whatever it might be. But for me, the priority is to be that disciple of Jesus, and part of that, that flows from that priority, is filling my mind with truth. Think on these things, Paul said, the things that are pure, you know, these things that are holy, they're helpful rather than the things of this world. And sometimes, you know,

they've got this company that I use to delete my footprint out there in the world, which gets your name gets out there and everything else, and I don't particularly like that. So I pay a little bit and it seems to work kind of takes care of it. There's a lot of businesses out there like that. I'm not endorsing one or the other. But wouldn't it be nice if you could go to a company and say, for $34 a year, will you scrub my mind? Will you take off those things that are really bringing me down? And will you take out all that bad news that I spent for the last 10 years listening to? I'm trying to get on with my life without all of that. Now, there's a business for you. Hmm. You want to know the truth. But the truth is, we need to stop putting that stuff in our head.

If you want a life well lived, you've got to be careful of what gets into your head. Paul wrote to the Ephesians and he said this. In the Ephesians 5, 6 through 12, I'll put in the notes for you. He says, let no one deceive you with empty words, for it is because of these things that the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. therefore do not associate with them for once you were darkness but now you are light in the Lord walk as children of light for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true and he goes on and says and try to learn what is pleasing to the Lord take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness get out of there but instead expose

them, for it is a shame even to speak of the things that are, that they do in secret, period. Now, I'll tell you what, people spend a lot of time telling others what people do in secret. There's nothing edifying about that. There's nothing encouraging about that. There's nothing intrinsically holy about that. Get on with your life. You want a life well lived? Get on with it.

Move away from these things. Don't let anybody deceive you with empty words, right? but associate with good, holy people. People that are not good, holy people, we don't disassociate in the sense that we're responsible for evangelization, but I'm talking about living the good life. I'm talking about a life well lived. You've got to have good friends.

Living the good life is making your mind up that the most important affirmation in your life that counts is not a like on the internet on Instagram. or Facebook, whatever. Living the good life or the life well lived is making your mind up that the most important affirmation is God, that you're known by God. David used to look up into the stars in the book of Psalms. He'd look up at the stars and he was blown away.

You know what he was blown away with? He wasn't blown away with the thousands and they figure probably roughly five to six thousand stars you can see with the naked eye. he wasn't blown away by how many of the stars were there. He was blown away that God was mindful of him. That was payday. You know, a life well lived is the ability to link experiences and insights together, resulting in more truth and wisdom.

And once truth and wisdom is in action, the result is understanding. That's life well lived. when you gain understanding by linking together the insights that you hear the word of God and putting them into practice. Another aspect is, I'll give you two more, okay? I'll give you two more. Living well means that you are preparing to live a fruitful, holy, and exemplary life in your old age.

You may be old right now, but it's preparing yourself. For old age, you know, a lot of people don't do this. Oh, sure, they got 401Ks and usually underfunded. You know, they were caught up in the moment in their 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, and about 55, that, man, I got to start preparing for my old age. Well, when it comes to the condition of your heart and your relationship with the Lord and your relationship with other people, 55, 60 isn't the time to begin, even though you can, but when you're young, when you're young preparing to live a fruitful, holy, and exemplary life

in your old age, what would be an example of that, Jeff? Well, keep your body in shape. Your understanding of God's will in Scripture, if you've been putting that off all these years, then you're not preparing for old age. In old age, you still need the wisdom and understanding for living, and you're placed in a position of pride as a grandkids. grandparent. And the way to become a great grandparent is to start preparing for it in your 20s, 30s and 40s. And the last thing I would share with you is this. The life well lived means that you are preparing for a good death. Oh, Jeff, everything was so good up to that point. And you're really

leaving me on a bummer. No, I'm not. I'm preparing you. I'm encouraging. I'm encouraging. you. Hello, bulletin, you're going to die. You are, unless the Lord waits. You will. They all did. I've been in the cemeteries. No one's complaining there. They all went through it. A good life, a life well lived, is preparing for a good death. And you know what? The church even teaches us how to prepare for this. Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with the. Blessed our things. Thou amongst women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus, Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen. We call that in Catholic circles a good death, a happy death.

It is a successful move to eternal life. So, anyway, that's what it was on my mind. That's what I've been thinking about. That's what I wanted to share with you. I hope it helps. I really do. and I hope you're encouraged today. Now, all this will be in the show notes,

so you can go ahead and read over it again, listen again, and more importantly, put it into practice. Let's pray. In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, Lord Jesus, we love you so much. We lift you up and praise you. We are so filled with you. We are so content with all that you have provided.

Lord, we want to live lightly. we want to pursue you with all of our heart and not get entangled in the things of this world. Help us to do it, we pray, in Jesus' name. Amen. Love you. Look forward to talking to you next week.