Contributor: Ngozi Roberts
INTRODUCTION
In our last lesson, we learnt about the hindrances to knowing Gods will and understood that for us to accomplish Gods will in our lives we are not to allow Sin, or our Will hinder God’s Will from being accomplished in us.
So today we are continuing our quest for knowledge in our Christian living by attempting to understand what Living a Life of Purpose all is about. In his book The Purpose driven life, Rick Warren gave us a design for Christian Living. He explained to us what is meant by living a lifestyle-based on God’s eternal purpose and not cultural or social values.
Our topic today is about living a life of purpose. I want to believe that from our last lessons we now have an idea of what our purpose in life is. So today we are going to explore how to live that purpose. I have attempted to simplify this topic by breaking down into bits the words and into sections so as to bring out a basic meaning to this topic. I pray that this way our understanding of the topic will be better enriched.
LIVING
What is Living? Miriam Webster defines Living as
(i) having life, (ii) the condition of being alive
LIFE
What is Life? Miriam Webster defines Life:
•as the sequence of physical and mental experiences that make up the existence ofan individual.
•as any system capable of performing functions such as eating, metabolizing,excreting, breathing, moving, growing, reproducing, and responding to external stimuli.
Another definition says:
- it is the state characterized by the ability to get and use energy, reproduce, grow, andrespond to change: the quality that plants and animals lose when they die.
- the period during which a person or thing is alive or exists.
PURPOSE
What is Purpose? Miriam Webster defines Purpose as:
- The reason for which something is done or created or for which something exists.•INTENTION, INTENT, PURPOSE, DESIGN, AIM, END, OBJECT, OBJECTIVE,GOAL
- Mean what one intends to accomplish or attain
If we put all these together one can then say that Living a Life of Purpose is the condition of being alive during which period, one has something to accomplish.
Therefore, I can say that when one is Living a life of Purpose, the person is alive for a period to accomplish something.
So, the question is, do I know the purpose for which am alive for? Do I know the goal for which I am supposed to accomplish while I am alive?
If I then know the reason or the gaol for which I was created to be alive for, then the next question is am I on the right track? In other words, am I living out the life? Am I carrying out the steps that will lead me to fulfil the goal or purpose? Lets look at purposeful living.
PURPOSEFUL LIVING
I know that in the circular teachings we get all the steps of achieving goals, purposes in life. Usually these are set out by either oneself or the institutions we are under or the projects that we undergo. For example, we are advised to set our new year resolutions, or organisations could ask you set out the goals for achieving a particular task or project. Or even goals are given to you and either your team or self to achieve within a set time. OR an institution that gave the goal would usually set out steps to achieving these goals. Ultimately once these steps are followed through, it will lead to the accomplishment of the set goals. Interestingly, enough when we are in the right course through these steps we are appraised and scored excellently well, and we are happy. In the same manner on the larger scale, when we were created Jeremiah 1:5 confirmed that we were known before we were born.
"Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.
God created you and I having known us first. In knowing us I believe, it’s because he had an assignment for you and myself. That is why we were given birth to a particular area of the earth, and through a particular woman/man. He has a purpose for us. Now, having by His spirit guided us into being born again, He expects us to lay hold on the manual for living and find the part that will guide us into fulfilling our purpose on earth. So, there are steps to follow for us to live that purpose fulfilling life. When we lay hold of these steps, and follow it diligently, automatically, passion follows with fulfilment, joy and contentment and the ease with which we go through life will be so amazing that we eventually end up living a life of purpose. As we go through this study my prayer is that we will be able to know where we are at so as to realign ourselves into fulfilling our purposes in Jesus Name Amen.
Text - Matthew 5:13-16
13 “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavour, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men. 14 “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. 16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.
Supreme Goal - From the above scripture, we know that our goal is to be the
a.Salt of the earth.
b.Light of the world
c.Glorify our Father
Therefore, whatever we find our selves doing in our pursuit in life, it has to fulfil the above three things. Earlier on we established that God has a purpose for everyone from the scripture Jeremiah 1:5 - 5 Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.
Note that Job said in Job 42:2
“I know that you can do all things; no purpose of yours can be thwarted”
God’s purpose cannot be reversed. Therefore, Once God has established His purposes for our lives—no one can change it. Remember Pharaoh?
In Exodus 9:16, the scripture said that “But I have raised you up for this very purpose, that I might show you my power and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth”
God put Pharaoh in the place of being an Egyptian leader for His purpose. God has a purpose for everyone—including those who resist Him.
FINDING OUR PURPOSE
We were thought in school that to fulfil your goal and mission, one must make plans and follow the steps in the plan. Remez Sasson categorized these into 10 steps as below:
1)Be specific about what you want to achieve
2)Draw up a plan of action
3)Make a list of steps
4)Act do not be passive
5)Read and listen to advice
6)Alternative plans
7)Examine your goals periodically
8)Repeat affirmations
9)Visualize your goal
10)Act
Interestingly though, I find that in the fulfilment of life’s purpose we also need to follow some steps.
Proverbs 20:5 says that “The purposes of a person’s heart are deep waters, but one who has insight draws them out”.
We all are made in the image of God, and we have established that we all are born with a purpose. However, the truth is that we can either discover it or completely miss it. Thank God, provisions have been made for us the believers, so we do not miss it. So, I have below the 2 main steps that can lead us into living a life of purpose.
1.Ensure you are spirit filled and prayerful
The Holy Spirit is the one that helps each believer and gives us the insight to God’s purpose for us. We find peace and courage when we sense the confirmation of the Holy Spirit that we are in the right place at the right time of our individual purpose. Therefore, for each step that we take, the Holy Spirit is there to witness that we are walking in the right direction.
So, in our pursuit to fulfilling our purpose, we carry out plans, make mini goals, follow the steps in each of the mini goals and if we are double checking with the Holy Spirit to ensure that we are walking in the right direction we will fulfil our purpose.
Proverbs 19:21 the message translation says,
"We humans keep brainstorming options and plans, but GOD’s purpose prevails."
In finding your purpose, God’s purpose is the one that lasts. We can make our plans and set out to see them accomplished but only if it is in alignment with the purpose of God for us would it last. We can make our plans and set out to see them accomplished, but if we don’t pray and seek God’s direction—we could find ourselves drifting in an ocean of challenges without a sail. Every plan should begin and end with God in mind first.
2.Believe in the purpose and Submit to the guidance of the Holy Spirit
Once we acknowledge the purpose, we should then believe in the purpose. It is when we start believing in the purpose that it becomes easier to submit to the guidance of the Holy spirit in obedience. As long as we are working in total obedience and submission to his plan, we will surely fulfil our purpose. Take the life of Mary for example, when the angel told her that she was going to be the mother of the son of God, what did she say in Luke 1:38: 38 And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her. Mary believed. And in her belief, she knew her purpose, and allowed the Holy Spirit to take over her life so that she was able to live a life of purpose for her. She fulfilled her purpose when she gave birth to Jesus.
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN WE MISS IT?
Yes, sometimes we might miss a step (Romans 8:28). - “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose”.
God works through all situations to fulfil His purpose. You see, the enemy is not happy that we are in the right track doing what God has ordained us to do. So sometimes he brings challenges that seems too difficult to handle and when we get beclouded, we tend to lose it. Hard times can make it difficult to see God’s purpose especially when we only feel pain and grief. Many times, we don’t want to be reminded that God is working our difficulty for our good. However, if we practice living our lives with the mindset that God is working things out for us, we can have smoother transition of accepting this truth during challenging times. The key is being very conscious of the presence of the Holy Spirit and with practice He will always guide us through. You see when we genuinely work in error and miss the step. The Holy Spirit will always find a way of bringing the right step to where you are so that you can become re-aligned to the original purpose. They key is working in partnership with the Holy Spirit.
John 16: 7 "Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you."
Vs 13 - "Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew your things to come."
Isaiah 30:21 says - "And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, this is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left."
We are designed to take advantage of the person and ministry of the Holy Spirit. Being aware of his presence is good but when we allow him to minister to us is better. The Holy Spirit is the strengthner, revealer, preserver, anointed, comforter of all of us as believers.
if we are in partnership with the Holy Spirit, as a revealer, He will always reveal to us the truth of what our purpose is in life. He will guide us through all the steps required to living a life of purpose.
CONCLUSION
To ensure that we live a life of purpose, we must ensure that it is not a living of power and might. We must acknowledge that we can only live this life in partnership with the Holy Spirit. It is the Holy spirit which knows the mind of Christ. Jesus Christ left us with the Holy Spirit to comfort and guide us. When he lived in this earth, he knew all the ups and downs that can block and hinder us from fulfilling our purpose. But He in the end overcame and was able to fulfil his own purpose. That is why He left us with a Helper in the person of the Holy Spirit so that we are certain to make it and fulfil our own purpose also. Jesus Christ in fulfilling his own purpose was able to fulfil the goal of Matthew 5:13-16 being:
a. Salt of the earth.
b. Light of the world
c. Glorify our Father
In the same manner with the help of the Holy Spirit, we are meant to live a life where we are seen as the Salt of the earth, light of the world and ultimately a life that brings glory to God. My prayer is that we all will let the Holy Spirit lead us into living a life of purpose in Jesus’s name Amen.
