Unless you assume a God, the question of life's purpose is meaningless-- Bertrand Russell, atheist
Excerpts from Rick Warren’s book The Purpose Driven Life will help you to understand why you are alive and God’s amazing plan for you – both here and now, and for eternity.
It’s not about you.
The purpose of your life is far greater than your personal fulfillment, your peace of mind, or even your happiness. It’s far greater than your family, your career, or even your wildest dreams and ambitions. If you want to know why you were placed on this planet, you must begin with God. You were born by his purpose and for his purpose.
The search for the purpose of life has puzzled people for thousands of years. That’s because we typically begin at the wrong starting point – ourselves. We ask self–centered questions like: What do I want to be? What should I do with my life? What are my goals, my ambitions, my dreams for my future? But focusing on ourselves will never really reveal our life‘s purpose. The Bible says, “It is God who directs the lives of his creatures; everyone’s life is in his power.” Job 12:10
Contrary to what many popular books, movies, and seminars tell you, you won’t discover your life’s meaning by looking within yourself. You’ve probably tried that already. You didn’t create yourself, so there is no way you can tell yourself what you were created for! If I handed you an invention you had never seen before, you wouldn’t know its purpose, and the invention itself wouldn’t be able to tell you either. Only the creator of the owner’s manual could reveal its purpose.
Rick Warren says, “I once got lost in the mountains. When I stopped to ask for directions to the campsite, I was told, “you can’t get there from here. You must start from the other side of the mountain!” In the same way, you cannot arrive at your life’s purpose by starting with a focus on yourself. You must begin with God, your creator. You exist only because God wills that you exist. You were made by God and for God – and until you understand that, life will never make sense.
“It is only in God that we discover our origin, our identity, our meaning, our purpose, our significance, and our destiny. Every other path leads to a dead end.”
Many people try to use God for their own self–actualization, but that is a reversal of nature and is doomed to failure. You were made for God, not vice versa, and life is about letting God use you for his purposes, not your using Him for your own purpose. The Bible says,
“Obsession with life in these matters is a dead end; attention to God leads us out into the open, into a spacious, free-life.” Romans 8:6 (Msg)
Self–help books, even Christian ones, usually offer the same predictable steps to find in your life’s purpose: consider your dreams. Clarify your values. Set some goals. Figure out what you were good at. Aim high. Go for it! Be disciplined. Believe you can achieve your goals. Involve others. Never give up.
Of course, these recommendations often lead to great success. You can usually succeed in reaching a goal if you put your mind to it. But being successful and fulfilling your life’s purpose are not at all the same issue! You could reach all your personal goals, becoming a raving success by the world’s standard, and still miss the purposes for which God created you. You need more than self– help advice.
The Bible says, “Self-help is no help at all. Self-sacrifice is the Way, my way, to finding yourself, your true self.” Matthew 16:25
Self-help books often suggest that you try to discover the meaning and purpose of your life by looking within yourself, but Rick Warren says that is the wrong place to start. You must begin with God, your creator, and his reasons for creating that. You were made by God and for God, and until you understand that, life will never make sense.
For everything, absolutely everything, above and below, visible and invisible…. everything got started in Him and finds its purpose in Him. Colossians 1:16 (Msg)
The Purpose Driven Life book is not about finding the right career, achieving dreams, or planning your life. It is not about how to cram more activities into an overloaded schedule. Actually, it will teach you how to do less in life end by focusing on what matters most. It’s about becoming what God created you to be.
How then, do you discover the purpose you were created for? You have only two options. Your first option is speculation. This is what most people choose. They conjecture, they guess, they theorize. When people say, ” I’ve always thought life is…”, they mean, “This is the best I can come up with.” For thousands of years, brilliant philosophers have discussed and speculated about the meaning of life. Philosophy is an important subject and it has its uses, but when it comes to determining the purpose of life, even the wisest philosophers are just guessing.
A Life devoted to things is a dead life, a stump; a God shaped life is a flourishing tree. Proverbs 11:28
Blessed are those who trust in the lord… They are like trees planted along the riverbank, each deep into the water. Such trees are not bothered by the heat or worried by long months of drought. Their leaves stay green, and they go right on producing delicious fruit. Jeremiah 17:7–8 (NLT)
Further reading in this book will help you find what the Bible says about your purpose.
- You Were Planned for God’s Pleasure
- You Were Formed for God’s Family
- You Were Created to Become Like Christ
- You Were Shaped for Serving God
- You Were made for a Mission
You can purchase “The Purpose Driven Life” Here
Focusing on ourselves will never reveal our life’s purpose