We All Have a Purpose

“If we don’t have a purpose or a direction in our life, we may be floundering like a fish in the sea.” I wrote this sentence for a book I’m writing. Will you please pray for me in this endeavor? God provides us with talents to give us purpose. Mine is to write about Him in service back to Him and to others.

Do you believe that God has a plan for your life? Do you believe He has a plan with purpose for your life? You should because we all have a purpose.

God had a plan and a purpose for His own son, Jesus Christ.

The purpose of God was the plan to have Jesus Christ, His only begotten Son, take on all the sins of every person in the world and die for those sins and be raised from the dead to offer us forgiveness and salvation.

Believe in your heart and accept that: “… According to the eternal purpose which He [God] accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Ephesians 3:11) — For “He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.” (1 John 3:8)

Among all of us who call ourselves Christians, I must ask: How many of us have read the entire Bible? I know of many who have not. So, if you have not, you should ask yourself "Why?"

If you are not a Christian, may I encourage you to read The Bible? I guarantee you that if you read The Bible and let God work through you, your life will change for the better and it will be so much more rewarding.

The Bible is also called The Word and it is alive! “For the Word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” (Hebrews 4:12)

We need to have good intentions of our heart and determine our purpose in life. We need to purposefully begin by reading our Bible every day. Pray that God will reveal your God-given talent(s) to you and seek His power to know what your purpose is to be able to fulfill it.

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

When I was old enough to reason (to begin to understand), I questioned the reason for living. I began to wonder what my purpose was here. I really had no idea what it was or how to accomplish it if I did know it.

Eventually, we all begin to think about our purpose in life. So why in the world are we here? There must be a good reason.

Although some people believe we live and then just die and become nothing, there would be no purpose in that. Don’t fool yourself or let anyone deceive you into thinking there is no purpose. Why would people question it so much if it weren’t so?

When I was younger, I asked my mother the question as to why we’re here. I asked her what her purpose was in life. I figured she’d have a wise answer for me. She just told me that she believed her purpose was to be a mother and a wife. My parents did have six children, but I thought to myself: “There has to be more.”

I remember learning that no snowflake is ever alike! If we can just compare ourselves to snowflakes for just a moment, then we can realize that we are also very unique, and yet we are also very alike in many ways. There is no one else exactly like you or me, but we are similar.

Because “… God created man in his [own] image, in the image of God, [He] created him; male and female He created them.” (Genesis 1:27)

Although God created us each differently and yet similar, he had a purpose in doing so. We were each created to find and fulfill our purpose in life. What is that purpose?

I questioned this for a long time, until I read the whole Bible! I pray that you will read the whole Bible, too. I promise you that if you let God, He will transform you into a Christ follower and reveal His purpose in you. It is unique, just like you because only you were created for a time such as this.

Let me say that every human being has three basic purposes of God, and then we have our own individual purpose in life.

The first basic purpose of all mankind is to realize that God loves you so very much that He wants you to receive His love and salvation, and He wants to receive your love back. “We love Him because He first loved us.” (1 John 4:19)

“We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love. God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them.” (1 John 4:16)

“ ‘And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment.” (Mark 12:30)

Just think, when someone loves you they hope you will love them back. God loves you. He wants your love back, too, but He won’t ever force you. So, the first purpose is to realize how much He loves you and accept His free gift of salvation, and then love Him back. (Please see the previous blog entry titled “Salvation.”)

“He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.” (1 John 4:8).

The second purpose for all mankind is to love others as you love yourself.

“… ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” (Mark 12:31)

The third purpose for all mankind is to spread the Gospel (that is, The Bible), the truth of God and of Jesus Christ for all to be saved!

“And He [Jesus Christ] said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.” (Mark 16:15)

Finally, we need to find our own, individual purpose. The reason you are here on this earth is to use the talent(s) God has provided to you to help others see Jesus Christ: the truth, the life, and the way.

For Jesus said, “I am the truth, the life, and the way.” (John 14:16)

God gifts us various talents to serve Him. I hope to begin discussing these talents or gifts in the next blog posts to follow. God’s purpose is to use us. We are His vessels when we allow His power through the Holy Spirit to work through us to bring others to Him.

Seek God for your purpose! We all have a purpose! Fulfill it with everything that is in you!

God is waiting on each of us to fulfill our purpose. How long will you make Him wait?

Just ask God and seek Him, and you will find Him! “If you seek me, you will find me if you seek me with your whole heart.” (Jeremiah 29:13)

Until we virtually meet again, may God call you to Himself.

God’s Word for Today: “Who has saved us, and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began…” (2 Titus 1:9 my emphasis in bold)

Copyright © 2014 by Patricia Shehan

All scripture is quoted from various translations of the Holy Bible (God’s Word) and is set in italics and quotation marks.