Back to the Basics: What is our Purpose in Life?

As I was listening to Pastor Kurt’s and Russ Brashers sermons these past two weekends, it similarly aligned to what I wanted to write to you today, and what God put on my heart for 2021. 

I can't believe that we are already into our first week of a new year! If you’re anything like me and perhaps half of the world, maybe you thought that when the clock struck midnight on New Year's Eve, that something great (like what happened in Cinderella) would happen to your life. I have no idea why I thought this way, but honestly, I was looking for some bright spark of hope for the new year. 2020 would be gone, out of sight, out of mind, and officially over, and we all had high hopes that something great would happen in 2021. I recently saw a meme on social media that said, “If you say 2021 it really says 2020 won”. I laughed at this because in reality, it does in a way feel like 2020 took over everything in our lives and won. But at the end of the day, it has certainly not, and we have all successfully moved on to a new year. In all honesty, I hope things look brighter and different this year; but none of us will ever know how this year will pan out. 

A lot of us do feel like 2020 defeated us: our plans, our identity, our purpose, our hopes and dreams, our joy. 

But I urge you to not go into this year feeling pressure to have the best year of your life. 

Lose the expectations now to ‘have your life all together’ and to post that perfect family picture on Facebook. Lose the expectations to put a nice check mark in all your boxes of your resolutions list. 

We all do it in one way or another - whether it’s just a mental list, or we actually carved out a time in the day to sit down and intentionally write them down. 

We take glimpses at social media, books, new programs, gyms, what our friends are doing, even what can come to our doorstep in just 2 days through amazon prime. 

I’m not at all saying having resolutions are bad, I even made some of my own! But I’m giving myself a lot more grace with this list and re-thinking what I have on it. 

But, before we start checking off the boxes of our lists or thinking of it for the first time, let’s get back to the basics. Let’s think about the following questions.  

What is the purpose of our life? What are we supposed to do with our 2021 year? 

Many times, we may think, “Why did God choose me to be here?” Sometimes thinking about the purpose and meaning of life seems so complex. It feels like there needs to be some deep and profound answer to the question.  

If we want to know why we were placed on this planet, we must begin with God. He is the reason why we are alive today! We were born by his purpose and for his purpose. 

Why are we complicating something so simple? 

So... what is our purpose? To put it simply, our purpose in life is to know God and to be in right relationship with Him. 

We don’t have to look outside of God for this identity or purpose! 

Ephesians 1:4 (MSG) says this: “Long before he laid down the earth’s foundations, he had us in mind. And he settled on us as the focus of his love to be made whole and holy by his love.”  Before we were born, God had us in mind. God never makes mistakes. He made you with incredible value and so that you could experience his love. 

Our worldly identity - the things we once identified with are gone. Maybe your identity, your purpose, was found in your friend group, the sports or activities you or your child participated in, or your academic or career ranking. This season is isolating ourselves from the ‘identity’ or the ‘person’ we try so hard to fit, but when we do that, it always leaves us exhausted, searching for the next one. We do this because we want to fit into the world. But instead of doing this, we can look not to ourselves, but to God and see who the person he already says that we are. You are already a child of God. There is nothing on earth, not even a pandemic, that can thwart this. 

Maybe this current season will show us how to live our purposes called by God. And once you know what your purpose in this world is, there is so much more meaning and significance to life. 

Throughout life many people try to define who we are, and that causes us to start looking on the inside - which is the wrong place to start. We must begin instead with God, our creator. We were made by God and for God.  

Whatever you do, don’t look to yourself to find purpose, because you’re going to fail every time. You and I were made for a far greater purpose than simply searching for ultimate success, comfort, or happiness in the things of this world. 

The purpose of our lives is far greater than our own personal fulfilment, or even our happiness. It’s far greater than our families, dream careers, or the house that we have. Not that these are bad things, but we must remember to have God at the center of these plans and pursuit of fulfillment in our lives. 

What if I told you that it’s not about you, it's not about me, but it’s about God? 

That’s a quote from the book The Purpose Driven Life, by Rick Warren, a Pastor in California. It took me years to realize that it’s not about me, it's about God. 

Jesus helps us look beyond ourselves to find our purpose. In scripture, God states our purpose with so much clarity.  

In Matthew 22:37-39 says this, ”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, what does that leave us with. Two things: love God and love others.’”

I don’t know about you, but this reminder of God’s priorities for those who follow him ties hand in hand with our purpose for knowing God, which is a lot more simple than I make it out to be sometimes. 

I want to leave you with 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 which says, “Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” 

Let’s break this verse down. 

What is God’s will for us? To simply put it, 

Rejoice always. 
Pray continually. 
Give thanks in all circumstances. 

Rick warren says, “You weren’t put on earth to be remembered; you were put here to prepare for eternity.” 

Remember that. We have one life that God has given us. What are you going to start focusing on this year? Will you do these things for a purpose to glorify God, or just to find fulfillment within yourself? What are you going to do with what God gave you? 

Let’s also stop and ask ourselves, “What are the motives and purposes behind our resolutions? The goals and resolutions we create do not identify us. If we fail them, they don’t define us. If we accomplish them, they don’t define us. Neither do they redeem us - only Jesus defines and redeems. 

I pray that as you find God’s purpose for your life and for 2021, that He gives you such a deep meaning that will grow into amazing hope and joy from Him.