What’s my purpose in life?

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of all who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” - Romans 8:28

So often Christians struggle with finding their purpose for this life… “Why am I here? For what reason did God create me? What’s my purpose in life?”

Many times the answer is determined by seeking how we are gifted and then concluding that serving God through that gift is our “purpose”.  Are you a gifted with understanding numbers and mathematical principles? Are you a gifted teacher or speaker? Then clearly you were created for only that purpose for the rest of your time here, right?

But to limit yourself and your thinking in that manner is to limit your listening to the Holy Spirit.  True, you may be called to work in a financial arena but it may only be for a season or it may be that while serving the Kingdom in that area, you’ll be developing and growing another gift that God want you to use somewhere else.

The answer may lay in seeking your purpose DAILY! The answer you receive may remain the same for years but to expect that to remain is to become complacent…and that is akin to falling asleep spiritually.  You become comfortable with who you are and what you’re doing - and that’s the moment we’re deceived into thinking its where we’re to remain stable.  To do otherwise is to cause instability… and why would we want that?!

In fact, its the instability that we should seek and cherish.  For that is where we fully rely on the power of God and not the misconstrued power of ourselves.  Besides, if we in fact, acknowledge that our sole purpose is to serve God in any way and we honestly hold that as our primary and deepest desire, then we need to develop an early-recognition system to help us identify the moment when we are deceived by worry, complacency and doubt.  That system is to daily remind ourselves of our ultimate purpose.

Second to that is helping other believers to return to this way of thinking and bring Light to this area… clearing away the clouds, murkiness and cobwebs… when we find them lost and circling in the desert.

This is the ultimate fulfillment of Matthew 22:37-39 - “Jesus replied; ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment.  And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”

So then, the answer to the question of purpose is to live to glorify God - not in being an artist, musician, speaker, teacher or financial wizard.  Those are merely the methods through which He is glorified.  And we should take care that we not place the method as our purpose but to daily place our purpose as His glory and use our currently gifted method to that end.