Purpose-Driven Life

Rick Warren wrote The Purpose-Driven Life. This is not that. This is something else.

We are told that we need to find our purpose in life. We are told that we each have a special purpose and if we can find it and fulfill it our lives will be so much better. So we go on searches; we look thither and yon. We take personality tests and life inventories. We try to find ourselves. Because we know if we can find what our purpose is, life will be so much better. Good news! I'm here to help.

Scripture says, "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Rom 3:23). We know that first phrase just fine, mostly, but the second? "Fall short of the glory of God"? What's that all about? Paul wrote, "Whatever you do, do all to the glory of God" (1 Cor 10:31). He wrote, "In Him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of His glory" (Eph 1:11-12). We were saved "so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of His glory." Would you like to know what your purpose is? "Do all to the glory of God." Scripture says, "All things were created through Him and for Him" (Col 1:16). You and I were made for Him.

What is your purpose in life? The exact same as mine. You and I were created with the express purpose of glorifying God. You can begin to see, then, why "all have sinned" becomes such a horrendous thing -- why all sin is such a tragedy. We were made to glorify God. Our default condition is not to glorify God. We fall short of the glory of God. So our lives are lived in constant desperation, aiming away from that for which we were made.

We tend to think of "sin" as "evil" or "bad things" or "ewwww" (the technical term), and perhaps it is all that. But more than that, it is a tragedy. It is a horrible loss. It is worse than cutting off your nose to spite your face. We long to find our purpose in life while we pursue the opposite of just what that purpose is. This is why Paul says, "There is none who does good; no, not one" (Rom 3:12). Good is magnifying God; we don't naturally do that. The only ones that can are the ones who are justified, who are sanctified, who are set apart and empowered by the Spirit of God. You, Christians. You can live a purpose-driven life, a life aimed at "the praise of His glory." "Whatever you do, do all to the glory of God." That is a purpose worth pursuing, an endless pursuit with ultimate satisfaction.