The Purpose Driven Life has been on the New York Times advice book bestseller list for one of the longest periods in history. With more than 30 million copies sold, it’s obvious many readers have turned to it as a source for living with meaning.
A quest for purpose isn’t something found only in the 21st century. Long before our time, men and women have sought to live in purposeful ways.
Even the apostle Paul longed to know that his investments in the lives of others revealed true purpose. Following Paul’s conversion from a chief persecutor of Christians to an apostle of Christ, he devoted his life to spreading the gospel. He wanted all people to know God who “has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, prompting us to call out, ‘Abba Father’ ” (Galatians 4:6). He wanted them to grasp that they were “no longer a slave but God’s own child. And since you are his child, God has made you his heir” (Galatians 4:7).
Paul explains what it means to possess real purpose in Jesus. He wanted the Galatians to understand that without Christ, they were slaves to “so-called gods that do not even exist” (Galatians 4:8). He was troubled that many of them were beginning to know God but then reverting to useless spiritual principles of the world. They were trying to earn favor with God rather than experience a relationship with Him through Jesus Christ (Galatians 4:9-10).
“I fear for you,” Paul said. “Perhaps all my hard work with you was for nothing” (Galatians 4:11). The apostle deeply wanted those he had taught and discipled to know that true purpose was found in Jesus alone. We all long for it and are invited to find it in all its fullness through Him—the One who fills our lives with meaning and purpose.
NLT 365-day reading plan passage for today: Job 38:1-41
More:
Read John 15:16 and consider what Jesus reveals as His purpose for believers.
Next:
How does the apostle Paul’s life demonstrate God’s “purpose” to you? What things can hinder you from living out your purpose in Jesus? How can you overcome these things by God’s power?
Gary Shultz on May 10, 2016 at 6:26 am
Hello Roxanne: It helps me when I step up to the line to know what my purpose will be and Paul defined many things, he also completely emptied himself to his purpose. I find I must often remind myself what I view as the purpose of my life is. To glorify God, to strive to live a holy life, to tell others of what Christ has done for me, stand in God’s presence with word and prayer and be available for His service. I view myself like a battery, when not in immediate use I should be charging, looking to be used in whatever service God chooses to use. I am often disappointed with how much time I must spend to “overcome” things that would throw me off course, but keeping short accounts helps me. Good spiritual exercise today Roxanne, thanks.
sdwise on May 10, 2016 at 9:11 am
I value your post because they speak to the specifics of the lesson in a very clear and applicable manner for all who read them. Thank you for sharing your insights. I believe that while God can use anyone and anything to accomplish His purpose, those who are His must conform to the image of Christ to find our specific purpose of operation in the world to bring glory to Him. The way we do this is by prayer, study and submitting to the Word of God.
sandy229 on May 10, 2016 at 1:15 pm
Amen!!
jim spillane on May 10, 2016 at 11:42 am
Gary – once again, my friend, you are spot-on with your comments. To me , your view of yourself as a “battery” is Spirit-inspired. It is such an accurate description of what all followers should be like. Would you mind if I borrow that analogy often? You are a blessing to this forum and I always find your comments informative and thought-provoking. Please continue sharing, my brother.
hsnpoor on May 10, 2016 at 12:37 pm
Incredibly well said, Gary! Good word and I thank you for it!
doctor-perspective on May 10, 2016 at 8:18 am
In the interest of space, I concur with and love all that Gary has said, and then some. As Christians, our purpose on earth is best succinctly stated as being, “To Know Christ, and then to make Him known”. I want to credit that “mantra” or “motto” to one of my early childhood influences like ISCF, but not sure right now. Though a journey of a life-time, that is the easy part, because it is a general goal for the entire Church for all ages and for the whole of one’s life.
Specific purpose is a bit more challenging. What is the one specific thing for which God has placed me on this earth that no one else can do, except me? But there is a problem even with that question. Who says that it is only one “big” thing? Why not two things or even twenty “little” things? The truth is that we default into “Rick Warrenism” or “Billy Grahamism” or “Paul and Jan Crouchism”. We would like to identify our specific purpose as being something grand and large in human terms. For Rick Warren’s book to sell 30 million copies and to be called the Evangelical Pope and to be validated by the Vatican Pope Francis is huge. That we identify as “purpose”. Or to be a world-wide Evangelist like the well-known Billy Graham is what we call “purpose”. But what about to be the servant girl who effectively counselled Naaman the leper? Who knows Mordecai Ham, the man who led Billy Graham to Christ? Could that single act have been his specific purpose on earth?
I believe the secret of our “specific purpose” in life lies in identifying the Gifts and talents that God has given us, honing and perfecting those with use and prayer, and actively making those available to God’s Holy Spirit for daily use. God has equipped us and continues to equip us for the specific assihnement He has ordained for us. Discover your Gift(s). Stir up your Gift(s). Dedicate your Gift(s). Be Driven by your Gift(s). That is your Purpose-Driven Life.
sandy229 on May 10, 2016 at 9:48 am
We were made for His purpose and not our own so our purpose is to bring other’s to Jesus so they can know Him too.
gagirllive on May 10, 2016 at 10:19 am
I think the emphasis should be on being Spirit-led, not purpose-driven. We find our purpose not when we are seeking purpose but when we are continuously seeking God and living in submission to His Spirit.
sandy229 on May 10, 2016 at 12:06 pm
Amen!
godlove on May 10, 2016 at 12:35 pm
I’m in complete agreement gagirl, I couldn’t have said it better. Way too much time is usually spent (wasted) seeking for one’s so-called “purpose”, but I think it’s more profitable and straightforward to simply seek God and pray that the Holy Spirit leads us as per His divine will. Blessings to you and to all.
Roxanne Robbins on May 10, 2016 at 10:59 am
Yes, sandy229 and gagirllive, Spirit-led vs. seeking purpose to glorify self is indeed the goal.
jim spillane on May 10, 2016 at 12:18 pm
The apostle Paul eventually found his Spirit-led purpose in life was to spread the Gospel and to shepherd his churches. “For God is my witness, how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus.” Philippians 1:8. But as history tells us, Paul had more than one “thorn” in his flesh. Wherever he went to preach, he was followed by a group of false teachers called the Judaizers. They were a sect of Jewish Christians who taught that to be a true Christian, you must combine the Jewish law with the Gospel of Christ. Paul stood adamantly against this. If the observance of the Law had been imposed on the Gentile converts, Paul’s entire life-work would have been in vain. The expansion of true Christianity was Paul’s consuming passion and purpose. Roxanne’s devotional today from Galatians today brings out Paul’s real concern for his early believers. Blessings to all today and always.
hsnpoor on May 10, 2016 at 12:58 pm
If I may, Godfrey, offer up my take on this idea of identifying out gift(s). I’m in a phase of my Christian Walk where I believe I’m often working in my gifting(s) from God with no real conscious knowledge of doing so. I’ve always been taught that God has given every believer a gift (I believe this) and there is purpose in the gifting(s) from God (mainly to accomplish God’s will, bring him glory and to edify the church body and I believe this) and that we should do everything possible to seek and identify our gifting(s) from God (I’m not sure about that). I’ve searched for scriptural guidance about this to either confirm or deny this to be true. But, the Bible is a very large territory and I’m just not sure. My experience tends to argue against the “seek & identify” mission because once we’re conscious of the gift, there opens a gap for pride to creep in and spoil the gifting. If the gift is to and for the glory of God and empowered by his Spirit within us, is there a real benefit in knowing the gift? What are the advantages & disadvantages?
doctor-perspective on May 10, 2016 at 5:12 pm
Greetings! It is my understanding that the Fruit of the Spirit is different from the Gift(s) of the Spirit. Every Believer is expected to have the ‘whole’ Fruit of he Spirit as outlined in Galatians 5:22-23. There is no need for identifying the aspects of the Fruit of the Spirit that are present in in our lives, but we should identify those aspects that we lack. When we identify the ‘whole’ Fruit, there is no basis for pride because it is the Fruit of the Spirit and not the Fruit of ourselves.
On the other hand, a Believer may be given only one Gift, or perhaps more. The Gifts of the Spirit are strategically given to every Believer for operational functionality of the Believer, initially for building up and strengthening each other, and ultimately for preparing the Body to do battle as soldiers of the cross going to war against the enemy of our souls. We are tasked with storming his strongholds and being used by God to rescue the perishing ( Corinthians 12:1-11).The picture is very clear in 1 Corinthians 12:12-31, the hand needs the foot for walking and the foot needs the hand for holding. The simple point of this great analogy is that every Believer, through the Gifts and Talents that God’s Holy Spirit “arbitrarily” gives us is expected to use that gift for the purpose for which it was given. I believe it is a lot easier to use your Gift when you know what it is. I believe it is a lot easier to use a weapon on the battlefield after you have identified it and mastered it on the range.
And what about scope for pride? Everything about the Gifts of the Spirit opposes the thriving of pride. First of all the Gift is “given” to us by God, as He wills. Secondly it is given to us for a specific purpose as the Giver will reveal from day to day, as well as a general purpose of building up the Body. Thirdly, Paul pauses to address the specific problem of pride about our Gifts. He says that those Gifts (parts) that we consider inferior or less important, are worthy of double honor. That levels the playing field and sends a strong statement that no Gift is more “important” than the other. It reminds me of the little urchin boy who refused to pump the bellows of the wind organ because the Maestro refused to recognize him for the contribution he made to his beautiful melodies.
hsnpoor on May 11, 2016 at 2:57 am
Whew! That’s a lot to digest and I will….just not tonight. Thank you for your reply and as I process, I will reply to you directly. GBU, Godfrey!
Gary Shultz on May 11, 2016 at 6:21 am
Hi Jim: As you see I am a one shot wonder, I don’t get to chat. I’m usually up and out for the day after devotions. If there is ever anything you would find useful please make use of it my friend. I’m just glad God allows us to do this.