The Purpose Driven Life(96)
“My life purpose is to love Christ, grow in Christ, share Christ, and serve Christ through his church, and to lead my family and others to do the same.
“My life purpose is to make a great commitment to the Great Commandment and the Great Commission.”
“My goal is Christlikeness; my family is the church; my ministry is ________________; my mission is _____________; my motive is the glory of God.”
You may wonder, “What about God’s will for my job or marriage or where I’m supposed to live or go to school?” Honestly, these are secondary issues in your life, and there may be multiple possibilities that would all be in God’s will for you. What matters most is that you fulfill God’s eternal purposes regardless of where you live or work or whom you marry. Those decisions should support your purposes. The Bible says, “Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the LORD’s purpose that prevails.”19 Focus on God’s purposes for your life, not your plans, since that’s what will last forever.
I once heard the suggestion that you develop your life purpose statement based on what you would like other people to say about you at your funeral. Imagine your perfect eulogy, then build your statement on that. Frankly, that’s a bad plan. At the end of your life it isn’t going to matter at all what other people say about you. The only thing that will matter is what God says about you. The Bible says, “Our purpose is to please God, not people.”20
One day God will review your answers to these life questions. Did you put Jesus at the center of your life? Did you develop his character? Did you devote your life to serving others? Did you communicate his message and fulfill his mission? Did you love and participate in his family? These are the only issues that will count. As Paul said, “Our goal is to measure up to God’s plan for us.”21
GOD WANTS TO USE YOU
About thirty years ago, I noticed a little phrase in Acts 13:36 that forever altered the direction of my life. It was only seven words but, like the stamp of a searing hot branding iron, my life was permanently marked by these words: “David served God’s purpose in his generation.”22 Now I understood why God called David “a man after my own heart.”23 David dedicated his life to fulfilling God’s purposes on earth.
There is no greater epitaph than that statement! Imagine it chiseled on your tombstone: That you served God’s purpose in your generation. My prayer is that people will be able to say that about me when I die. It is also my prayer that people will say it about you, too. That is why I wrote this book for you. This phrase is the ultimate definition of a life well lived. You do the eternal and timeless (God’s purpose) in a contemporary and timely way (in your generation). That is what the purpose-driven life is all about. Neither past nor future generations can serve God’s purpose in this generation. Only we can. Like Esther, God created you “for such a time as this.”24
God is still looking for people to use. The Bible says, “The eyes of the LORD search the whole earth in order to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.”25 Will you be a person God can use for his purposes? Will you serve God’s purpose in your generation?
Paul lived a purpose-driven life. He said, “I run straight to the goal with purpose in every step.”26 His only reason for living was to fulfill the purposes God had for him. He said, “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.”27 Paul was not afraid of either living or dying. Either way, he would fulfill God’s purposes. He couldn’t lose!
You can start living on purpose today.
One day history will come to a close, but eternity will go on forever. William Carey said, “The future is as bright as the promises of God.” When fulfilling your purposes seems tough, don’t give in to discouragement. Remember your reward, which will last forever. The Bible says, “For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.”28
Imagine what it is going to be like one day, with all of us standing before the throne of God presenting our lives in deep gratitude and praise to Christ. Together we will say, “Worthy, Oh Master! Yes, our God! Take the glory! the honor! the power! You created it all; It was created because you wanted it!”29 We will praise him for his plan and live for his purposes forever!