What’s All This Talk About Purpose?

This seven-letter word holds secrets for the direction and ultimate meaning of our lives. There’s much more to it than career goals and physical success.

What is my purpose? How do I find my purpose? How do I know if I am fulfilling my purpose?

Most, if not all, of us mull over these questions at one point or another. Whether we are actively seeking our purpose or deem it as a passing thought, the questions are there.

Is it about careers and success?

At some point we all have to decide what we want to contribute to the world around us. For example, I am an educator; I could say that my purpose is to infuse as much knowledge into my students as possible. I am to prepare them for their future.

If you are a firefighter, perhaps you would say your purpose is to keep people out of harm’s way, to demonstrate courage as you selflessly rush into buildings to save lives.

If you are a farmer, you might say that your purpose is to provide mankind with one of our core necessities: food. We cannot live without it.

I could continue to rattle off various careers along with their intended purpose. However, I am reaching for a deeper meaning of the word, a meaning that encompasses all careers and humanity as a whole.

Today, a common belief is that a primary purpose in one’s life on earth is to attain success, which translates into gaining status, wealth and recognition. The idea is that once these goals are accomplished, somehow we have fulfilled our purpose and have succeeded in our pursuits.

While individuals can find a certain sense of meaning and significance in their lives through successful endeavors, these are not the kind of aspirations for which I am searching. I desire a deeper and more profound definition for “purpose.” I have come to realize that no matter how many achievements, milestones or goals I accomplish as I strive to fulfill and attain my physical pursuits and purpose, I am still left with an emptiness.

Why is it that my sense of self-worth and value have been dependent on how successful I believe I am or on how important the world perceives me to be? Something is always lacking.

Though I find purpose in being a teacher, when I consider the sacrifice that Jesus Christ paid for me, my career goals seem insignificant. It is a spiritual purpose that beckons me.

Spiritual purpose

I believe the answer can be found in the following verses:

“Jesus spoke these words, lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said: ‘Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You, as You have given Him authority over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him. … Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are’” (John 17:1-2, 11, emphasis added throughout).

From this powerful prayer Jesus prayed the night before He gave His life for us, it’s evident that our primary purpose is to become at one with God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ.

Our purpose is to accept and acquire God’s qualities, character and laws as our own. Our purpose is to awaken each morning with the goal of seeing more of God and less of ourselves in our speech, actions and thoughts. Our ultimate purpose should be to exalt and glorify Him in everything we do or accomplish.

Rather than the focus of our life revolving around career success or the acclaim of others, we determine that in whatever career or phase of life we find ourselves, we will work and interact with others in a godly manner. In so doing, our Creator will be glorified and His way of life exemplified.

Let us keep God at the forefront of our minds from the instant we rise to the moment we lie down to rest. We can be deeply thankful for the power of prayer and repentance, the beautiful gifts granted to us by our Brother Jesus Christ when He chose to bear the penalty for our sins. He made it possible for us to sit at the feet of our Father! We must never let these gifts go unopened or unused!

As we are all works in progress, we should continually ask God to fill our minds, hearts and actions. We need to beseech Him to give us the strength to shine His light brightly in the darkness of our day and ask that He continue to bless and multiply the talents He has bestowed upon us in both our career and within our lives as a whole. We should be ever mindful that our talents were granted to us so that we might glorify God. In so doing, we will stand out as lights in the world.

Come to the Father

The next time you come to our Father’s feet in prayer and study, place all that you have—your habits, lifestyle, viewpoints, understandings, intellect, work, hobbies, pastimes and relationships—in His hands.

We must sit and listen to our Father as He teaches us! This is a call to action. Stop waiting for tomorrow. The time is now. Live to glorify your God above self and the world! God, in His magnificence and perfection, should be put first in every aspect of our lives.

“And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28).

We must remember that we are not called according to our purpose—driven by success, status, wealth or recognition. We are called according to His purpose! With this understanding, we can summarize with clarity the answers to the questions posed in the introduction of this article.

Living purposefully

What is our purpose? To glorify God in all that we do.

How do we find our purpose? By seeking first the Kingdom of God, by immersing ourselves in the Bible and soaking in His guiding words.

How do we know if we are fulfilling our purpose? When we look into the mirror each morning, we see less of ourselves and more of Him. Our work is truly exemplifying that of our Father in heaven.

When we are asked what we do, our first thoughts should be: I glorify God by keeping His laws and ways because they are ingrained in my heart. Secondarily, we teach, fight fires, farm, parent, volunteer, serve or do whatever we choose as our career. This is second to our true purpose of belonging wholeheartedly to God. As a result of glorifying God and placing Him first, we can’t help but shine in all that we do.

Now is the time to start fulfilling our true purpose! He awaits our full surrender! Let your worldly kingdoms collapse! Live with the sole purpose of inheriting the Kingdom of God! Don’t let God’s gifts go unopened or unused! Run into your Heavenly Father’s embrace, and journey down the path to true fulfillment as you draw closer to achieving the oneness He desires with you, His beloved child.

I want to leave you with more of the prayer that our Brother Jesus Christ took to the Father on our behalf:

“I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me. …

“O righteous Father! The world has not known You, but I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me. And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them” (John 17:20-23, 25-26).

Now, that is purpose!

Explore this subject more deeply in our articles “Purpose of Life” and “Why Were You Born?”