a) It All Starts with God. The purpose of your life is far greater than your own personal fulfillment, your peace of mind, or even your happiness. It’s far greater than your family, your career, and even your wildest dreams. If you want to know why you are placed on this planet it begins with God. You were born by His purpose and for His purpose.
Col. 1:16
“For everything, absolutely everything, above and below, visible and invisible- Everything got started in him and finds its purpose in him.”
b) Focusing on ourselves will never reveal our life’s purpose. God is the creator and the inventor so just as when we see something invented we must go to the inventor to understand it or go to the manual. It’s the same with God He created us we need to go to him to understand our life’s purpose.
c) You were made by God for God. Until you understand that, life will never make sense. A lot of people will go to fortune tellers, Tara card reading etc– just to find out why they are here and what is there purpose.
d) God is not just the starting point of your life; He is the source of it. To discover your purpose in life you must turn to God’s word, not the world’s wisdom. You must build your life on eternal truths, not pop psychology or inspirational stories. The bible says, “It’s in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for. Long before we first heard of Christ and got our hopes up, he had his eye on us, had designs on us for glorious living, part of the overall purpose he is working out in everything and everyone.”
Eph. 1:11
God was thinking of you along time before you ever thought of Him. He planned it before you existed, without your input! You may choose your career, your spouse, your hobbies etc. but you don’t get to choose your purpose. God chooses your purpose whether you fulfill it is up to you.
a) You are not an Accident! “I am your Creator. You were in my care even before you were born.
Isaiah 44:2
Your birth was no mistake or mishap, and your life is no fluke of nature. Your parents may not have planned you, but God did.
b) Long before you were conceived by your parents, you were conceived in the mind of God. God’s motive for creating you was his love. The bible says, “Long before he laid down earth’s foundations, he had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus of his love.”
Eph.1:4
God decided to give us life through the word of truth as we might be the most important of all things he made. This is how much God loves and values us. God’s word says, “I have carried you since you were born; I have taken care of you from your birth. Even when you are old, I will be the same. Even when your hair has turned gray, I will take care of you. I made you and will take care of you.
Romans 12:3
“The only accurate way to understand ourselves is by what God is and by what he does for us.” Without God we have no purpose.
a) What Drives Your Life? The man without a purpose is like a ship without a rudder. Everyone’s life is driven by something. Define drive: to guide, to control, or to direct. Whether you are driving a car and nail etc. you are guiding, controlling and directing it at the moment. What is the driving force in your life? Right now you may be driven by a problem, a pressure, or a deadline. You may be driven by a painful memory, a haunting fear. There are hundreds of emotions that can drive your life. Here are five most common ones:
1. Many people are driven by guilt. They spend their entire lives running from regrets and hiding their shame. Don’t allow your past to control your future. The devil is a liar and he will tell you everything you’ve done wrong if you let him.
2. Many people are driven by resentment and anger. They hold on to hurts and never get over them. Instead of releasing their pain through forgiveness, they rehearse it over and over in their minds. Some people clam up and hold in their anger and others blow up and explode with anger. Neither is healthy. Resentment always hurts you more than it does the person your resent. While your offender has probably forgotten the offense and on with life, you continue to stew in your pain, perpetuating the past. Those who have hurt you in the past can not hurt you any longer unless you continue to hold on the pain through resentment.
3. Many people are driven by fear. Fear- driven people often miss great opportunities because they’re afraid to venture out. Instead they play it safe, avoiding risks and trying to maintain the status quo.
4. Many people are driven by materialism. Their desire to acquire becomes the whole goal of their lives. This drive to always want more is based on the thinking that having more will make me happy at the risk of loosing the most important people in your life. You may have thing but relationships is the only thing you can take to heaven.
5. Many people are driven by the need for approval. They allow the expectations of parents, spouses, or children or teachers or friends to control their lives. Many adults are still trying to please their parents at the risk of loosing their spouses because they won’t let go and cleave to their spouse. Others are driven by peer pressure and what others think. The key to failure is to try to please everyone. It’s impossible.
The Benefits of Purpose- Driven Living:
1. Knowing your purpose gives meaning to your life. We were made to have meaning. This is why people try astrology, or psychics, to discover it. When life has meaning, you can bear almost anything; without it, nothing is bearable. Without God, life has no purpose, and without purpose, life has no meaning. Without meaning, life has no significance or hope. If you have felt hopeless, once your realize life has a purpose you begin to see wonderful things happen. God says, “I know what I am planning for you–’I have good plans for you, not plans to hurt you. I will give you hope and a good future.’” You may feel like you are facing an impossible situation but the bible says, “God is able to do far more than we would ever dare to ask or even dream of—infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts, or hopes.”
2. Knowing your purpose simplifies your life. If defines what you do and don’t do. Things you used to do you’ll change because you know your purpose and some things are just a waste of time. You begin to look at what’s important and what’s not. You Lord, give perfect peace to those who keep their purpose firm and put their trust in you.” Isaiah 26:3
3. Knowing your purpose focuses your life. Without a clear purpose, you will keep changing directions, jobs, relationships, churches, or other externals - hoping each change will settle the confusion or fill the emptiness in your heart. You think this time it will be different. But it doesn’t solve the real problem -a lack of focus and purpose. The men and women who have made the greatest difference in history were the most focused. For instance, Mother Theresa. If you want your life to have impact, focus it!!
4. Knowing your purpose motivates your life. Purpose always produces passion. Nothing energizes like a clear purpose. On the other hand, passion dissipates when you lack a purpose. Just getting out of bed becomes a major chore. George Bernard Shaw wrote, “This is the true joy of life; the being used up for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one; being a force of nature instead of a feverish, selfish little clot of ailments and grievances, complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy.”
5. Knowing your purpose prepares you for eternity. What really matters in life is when we stand before God and He asks us what have you done with what I gave you. You won’t have all your stuff, your friends etc. it will just be you and God. You weren’t put on earth to be remembered. You were put here to prepare for eternity. When you fully comprehend that there is more to life than just here and now, and you realize that life is just preparation for eternity, you will begin to live differently. You will start living in light of eternity. Then your values change along with wrong friendships, relationships, jobs etc. Measured against eternity, our time on earth is just a blink of an eye, but the consequences of it will last forever.
Without a purpose, life is motion without meaning, activity without direction, and events without reason. Without a purpose, life is trivial, petty, and pointless. You may be here today and thinking I have no purpose. I have been looking in all the wrong places. God wants you to know He had you here for such a time as this to for you to understand He has a purpose for you. He chose everything about you now you just need to make a choice to follow God.
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