Knowing Your Life’s Purpose | Loving Christ
Psalm 138:8 (ESV) The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me; your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever. Do not forsake the work of your hands.
I would bet that everybody at some point has wondered, ‘What is the purpose of my life?’
Trying to establish purpose is nothing new. The individuality of purpose is as unique as each person it pertains to. Every being has to establish his own purpose; mine won’t fit for anybody else.
It does seem, though, at times, that we look to others to answer this question for us.
Giving meaning to our lives (i.e. giving life purpose) is definitely a start to finding our way. However, giving life purpose is not truly knowing that purpose…our point in life. All of those little facets of our lives make up the whole, but as we continue on, what truly is the reason we’re here?
First of all, we are beings of love. All that we are cumulates love. Even those who “hate” are beings of love. After all, we are all made in God’s image. To truly find fulfillment, I believe we need to tap into that love, acknowledge it, and feel it with every part of our selves. So…one purpose is to love…and to allow ourselves to be loved.
Related Post: How to Serve God When Your Gifts aren’t Glamorous
Second, we are capable of being useful. What can we DO with this love that we are?
Usefulness creates purpose and this is true whether an individual puts herself to use with something on a large scale such as volunteer work or something on a smaller scale such as helping an individual: reading or taking groceries to a shut-in, raking leaves, mailing letters or even just offering a pat on the back and a word of encouragement or a smile for someone who looks unhappy.
I would encourage each person to think about her usefulness. Write down every single way, even the ones that may seem trivial – all are important; the list will be long, I promise, and seeing them in tangible form can help make them “real”. Come up with new ways to be useful, remember them, and put them into effect. As each use makes its way into the world, more love will spread and suddenly things will start to make sense. Purpose will be found.
Today’s Prayer: Lord, Help me to find my usefulness, and in turn, my purpose in You. Amen.
Personal Challenge: Create your list of ways you are useful. Consciously put them in effect, as many as possible each day. Add new ones when you can.
Sharing with Thoughtful Thursday
We all have a purpose in life, just for some of us it takes longer to figure out what it is. I love serving the Lord and my family and being a Mom, wife and business owner. God is good!
Amen!