the purpose driven life.

it's not about you.

that was my takeaway from our bible study tonight. the leader of campus crusade talked to us about what our purpose was while we were here on this earth, and mentioned those 4 little words - it's not about you. after some pondering and some reading, the first chapter of rick warren's book "the purpose driven life" hit home with me, motivating me to be more selfless in my day to day life and prayerfully work on finding out what my life's purpose actually is.

"for everything, absolutely everything, above and below, visible and invisible, ... everything got started in Him and finds its purpose in Him. -colossians 1:16

the purpose of your life is far greater than your achievements, your family, your friends, your peace of mind or your happiness. if you want to know why you were placed on this earth, you must go back to God. you were born by and for his purpose.

the question about what our purpose is in life has puzzled people for thousands of years. why? because they always start with themselves. we ask ourselves self-centered questions like "what do I want to be? what are MY goals, MY ambitions, and MY dreams for MY future?"

focusing on ourselves will never reveal our life's purpose.

many people will try and use God for their own self actualization, which is turn will leave them feeling empty and dissatisfied. we were made for God, not the other way around. life is about letting God use you for His purposes and His glory, not you using Him for your own purpose. the Bible says, "obsession with self in these matters is a dead end; attention to God leads us out into the open, into a spacious, free life."


so many of our ideas of success today come from the ideas, "consider your dreams. set goals. aim high. go for it. never give up." while these ideas are good and can lead to great success, being successful and fulfilling your life purpose are not the same thing! you could have all the success in the world and achieve everything you could possibly wish for in this life and still miss the purposes for which God created you.

thankfully, we don't have to speculate about what our purposes for our lives might be and can rely on what the Bible says about life... because the easiest way to discover the purpose of something is to ask the creator of it, right?

God hasn't left us in the dark to wonder about what our life's purpose is. the source of life is found in Him and through Him we find our purpose and can live life abundantly.

1) you discover your identity and purpose through a relationship with Jesus Christ.
2) God was thinking of you long before you ever thought about Him. His purpose for your life predates your conception - he planned it before you existed, without your input. you can choose your career or your girlfriend or boyfriend or spouse or hobbies, but you do not choose your purpose.
3) the purpose of your life fits into the bigger purpose that God has designed for eternity.


"it's in Christ that we find out who we are and what we're 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."