What is My Purpose?
What is My Purpose?
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”
Genesis 1:1
“Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.”
Genesis 1:26-27
I’m sure many of you, like me, have asked yourself, at one time or another, what is my purpose? Why am I here? What is my role? Or, What is my destiny? Why? Why? Why? And if you haven’t, maybe you will now.
It’s been clearly laid out in front of us in the Bible what our purpose is, and it isn’t what most people think. Spoiler Alert - we’ve been created in the image of God.
This devotion is probably one of the hardest ones I’ve written, and possibly the most convicting. It will definitely be the longest and probably not the most popular.
We serve no other purpose than to serve our creator.
I can hear the grumblings now. There will be so many thoughts already from so many of you who believe you have a role that is more important or more impactful than anyone else. Some will think that we serve some other purpose other than the purpose laid out in front of us in the Bible. All of us, each and every one of us, are here for the very same reason. Only some of us will choose the right path and correct gate.
We are here to serve our great and mighty God.
Have you ever placed a deep and considerate thought on how you came to be?
We are a gift. Our mere lives are gifts from God. We had nothing to do with it. We made no decision on our birth and neither did the one who birthed us. Each and every life is a gift from God. No one life is any more important or special than the next. Each is unique, but none is specific. We are all God’s creation. Not one single person that was born in this world made a decision on their birth. Not one of us decided we would be born or not. Sure we are different in sex, race, color and origin. But we all started from the same place, with the same sin-nature against us and with the same purpose.
“So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.”
Genesis 1:27-28
God’s intention and purpose in our lives is that we would become great stewards for the His Kingdom. That we would serve Him through spreading the Good News of Jesus Christ. And that we would become heirs to the Kingdom by placing our faith and trust in Christ. We would multiply, be fruitful and subdue the earth. All for His glory. All for our Kingdom.
We serve no other purpose. Of course, we have responsibilities. Some of us will become parents, leaders, workers, teachers, laborers and protectors. We will carry out specific missions and roles for a lifetime or half of it. For some of us, it won’t be that long. Whatever the length of time here, it should serve His purpose, not ours. And for most of us, we will never know what that purpose is, unless we seek Him diligently, intently and passionately. We have to stop waiting for others to fill the purpose for us.
Our purpose, what we are designed for, is to serve The Kingdom of God - intentionally and specifically. Every child we create and raise is a chance to bring more souls to the family of God. Some will be great doctors, lawyers, firefighters, teachers and even maybe a president. The purpose remains the same, the role changes. God’s desire is that every soul would be saved and come to the Kingdom of God.
“Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
Philippians 2:9-11
Our purpose is to live a life pleasing to God. To raise our children to love God. To share the Good News of Jesus Christ with everyone. To spread the Gospel to the entire world. To live a righteous and holy life. To extend grace and to love our neighbor. And more importantly - to love the Lord our God with all our heart, mind and strength.
Our purpose is to place God in front of everything we do. The instance we don’t, we are cheating The Kingdom of God, His Kingdom and our Kingdom.
By nature, we are not good people. As a whole, we are selfish, self-absorbed, greedy, needy and ruthless. Without God we are many things, but good is not one of them. We fall short. For some, like me, it is more often than not. Our sin can take over our lives, ruin some, motivate others and distract most.
Who we are, is what we are, when we cooperate with what the Holy Spirit is trying to do in us. The Holy Spirit is received after we turn our lives to Christ, and this is just the beginning. Many earthly churches place such an importance on salvation and miss the mark of our purpose. It’s not their purpose you see. It is ours. And without God, without our faith on Christ - we serve no purpose.
Without Christ in our lives we will serve a lifetime with no purpose. We will exist, function, carry on and die. Sure there will be earthly measurements of success or failure. But that’s it. No more, no less. Once the end has been written on earth, that will be the end for some, maybe most. Without Jesus Christ, there is no more. And this is not the desire of God. We were not created to fail.
So why?
Because we have been gifted this life. Our existence is a gift. It is a gift from God that serves a purpose. Remember what I said earlier, that not one single life was a choice? The only choice we have with our life is what we choose to do with it. And because our life was a gift from God, I choose to honor that gift with service, stewardship and discipleship, otherwise, it serves no purpose.
Our purpose has to be done with intent, focus, passion and specificity. Nothing can be left to chance. There is no do over, rerun or second at bat. We have one opportunity to fulfill our purpose.
The Bible clearly outlines Gods will for our lives. Unfortunately, many will still live their lives according to their will and not God’s. This was the case for much of my life. And because of this I asked the question “why?” often. Why am I here? What is my purpose? What am I suppose to be? Why is this happening to me? And so on.
Living a life that is not centered around Christ, leaves it uncentered and it leaves the questions unanswered. You are constantly looking for answers, trying to solve problems, looking for solutions and wondering why. We should always be placing God and Jesus at the center of every question we ask ourselves. Am I bringing glory to God? Is this in God’s will? Or, does this show that I love the Lord thy God with all my heart, mind and strength?
When God is at the front, He can’t be at the back.
You never would’ve known if you weren’t born. There would be no you. There wouldn’t be any questions about why you’re here. And you definitely wouldn’t serve any purpose. However, because you’re reading this, your existence isn’t an accident and you have a purpose.
By design, you are intentionally here. And intentionally, you have a purpose to fulfill. That is, of course, if you’ve turned your life over to Jesus Christ. God’s desire is that we would all come to know Christ. That we would come to understand the sacrifice, the atonement, the ascension and the purpose for our lives.
By now the question of “why?” should be answered. You should know your purpose and what you need to do. We are to grow The Kingdom by being great and mighty stewards, disciples and servants for our God.
This purpose is not to be taken lightly as so many are doing now. So many of God’s gifts are living a life of selfishness, pride and vanity. We’ve become boastful, arrogant and ugly. We have focused on ourselves and made us the shiny object. We believe we are more important. We’ve stopped, paused or given up on reaching others for the cause. We have preachers robbing The Kingdom with false messages, children of God are polluting the flock and great Christian’s are sitting still - waiting to be taken Home while doing nothing - thinking they have fulfilled their purpose.
This is unacceptable and has been happening for far too long. If you are not actively, constantly and purposely bringing glory to God - you are not fulfilling your purpose. Others should see the work Christ has done or is doing in your life. Others should see the love you have for others. They should see the reverence you have for God in your behavior and attitude. You shouldn’t be ashamed to carry a Bible with you in public. To openly share the gospel of Jesus Christ before sharing sports stories, war stories or our habits and hobbies. We should be happily telling others of the good work being done in us, the blessings only God can provide and the answer to constant prayer.
The reason we don’t share God is because He has taken a back seat. He has become second to us, in a life where we have been given another chance. We’ve run out of time. Made more excuses. Found other things to do. We’ve placed what we think is important over what God has told us. We believe, that what we want and desire, is what God needs. And it just isn’t so.
“Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.”
1 Corinthians 15:58
The answer to the question is simple. Run after God with passionate desire. Wake up every day and desire to know Him through His Word. Pray without ceasing. Let others see the work Christ is doing in you. Teach others what you know about our Lord and Savior. Let the world see Christ in you. Share Him with others, every chance you make. Let family members, friends, co-workers and strangers know how important God is to you. Gather, gather and gather with two or more - in His name. And when you get weak, tired or weary - push through it. We get one chance at this. Remember this was a gift.
“The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: and if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.”
Romans 8:16-17
“For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith. For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office: so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another.”
Romans 12:3-5
“(For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.”
Matthew 6:32-34