Day 40: Living with Purpose

Hi everyone!

Today is the final day of The Purpose Driven Life journey! I’ve learned a lot – I hope you’ve discovered some valuable nuggets too.

Let’s get on with it then!

Living on purpose is the only way to really live. Everything else is just existing.

Most people struggle with three basic issues in life. The first is identity: “Who am I?” The second is importance: “Do I matter?” The third is impact: “What is my place in life?” The answers to all three questions are found in God’s five purposes for you.

Day 39: Balancing Your Life

Life is about balance. We’ve all heard that before. Now that we’ve learnt about our five main purposes, we need to remember to try and keep them in balance.

These two statements sum up what this book is all about – God’s five purposes for your life:

1. “Love God with all your heart”: You were planned for God’s pleasure, so your purpose is to love God through worship.
2. “Love your neighbour as yourself”: You were shaped for serving, so your purpose is to show love for others through ministry.
3. “Go and make disciples”: You were made for a mission, so your purpose is to share God’s message through evangelism.
4. “baptise them into…”: You were formed for God’s family, so your purpose is to identify with His church through fellowship.
5. “teach them to do all things…”: You were created to become like Christ, so your purpose is to grow to maturity through discipleship.

Day 38: Becoming a World-Class Christian

Hi everyone! I hope you’re all well.

This chapter of The Purpose Driven Life explores an interesting concept. Author Rick Warren believes there are two types of Christians: world-class and worldly. He describes world-class Christians as those who “know they were saved to serve and made for a mission. They are eager to receive a personal assignment and excited about the privilege of being used by God.” Worldly Christians, he says, are “saved, but self-centred. They love to attend concerts and enrichment seminars, but you would never find them at a missions conference because they aren’t interested. Their prayers focus on their own needs.”

Day 37: Sharing Your Life Message

I will forever be grateful to God for the message He has given me. The story which – because of Him – is my life, is nothing short of miraculous. I hope I never forget that and always turn back to Him with a grateful heart. I also hope to always have the strength to share it when it needs to be heard. It’s a story that is hard to tell but I’m hoping to share it with you soon. In fact, I’ve already started working on a post.

Chapter 37 of our journey through The Purpose Driven Life deals with, I’m sure you already figured, sharing our message!

You may feel you don’t have anything to share, but that’s the Devil trying to keep you silent. The bible says, “Those who believe in the Son of God have the testimony of God in them.” Your Life Message has four parts to it:

Day 36: Made for a Mission

It’s hard telling someone about Jesus. At least, it is for me. I invite people to church but to actually say, “You know what? Jesus loves you so much,” is a whole ‘nother story. I’m reading Reinhard Bonnke’s autobiography Living a Life of Fire and am amazed by how easily he talks to people about God – not just from a pulpit, but one on one as well. This is something I’ve always struggled (and wanted) to do. My approach seems more gentle – less confrontational, whether I want it to be or not.

Chapter 36 of The Purpose Driven Life talks about the fact that we have a mission and a ministry. We are called to serve other believers through our ministry, and serve unbelievers through our mission. While a ministry call is unique to each person, we all have the same mission; “Christ changed us from enemies into His friends and gave us the task of making others His friends also,” 2 Corinthians 5:18. Enter; the Great Commission.

I felt a real temptation to get all down on myself and put myself under a big dose of condemnation until I reminded myself that condemnation is never from God. Even though we all have the same mission, we all live that out differently.

Day 35: God’s Power in Your Weakness

Your weakness are not an accident. God deliberately allowed them in your life for the purpose of demonstrating His power through you. What a statement! It’s liberating to know that my weaknesses aren’t something to be ashamed of but that they were always destined to be part of who I am.

Day 34: Thinking Like a Servant

Hi everyone! I kind of dropped out of blogging for a couple of weeks. I was trying to keep going through the school holidays but it wasn’t working… I love school holidays but they’re definitely a lot of work!

So I’m back again and Day 34 is a really interesting chapter (and hits close to home for me right now!)

Day 32: Using What God Gave you

Man, we’re nearing the end of our Purpose Driven Life journey already! I’m actually quite excited because I feel like once I’ve finished this project (40 days of purpose, blogged) I can move onto the next one and I’m really looking forward to finding out what it is! I’ve learned so much by undertaking this journey. The process has taken much longer than I thought (blogging daily is tough! Three times a week seems much more manageable) but I’ve learned a lot about myself and my purpose and also about blogging. As much as I love blogging (and I certainly do), I have a long way to go.

Anyway, back to the Purpose;

God ordained our purpose before we were born. He decided exactly what He wanted us to do and designed us accordingly. Once we surrender our life to Him, nothing can stand in the way. I love this Danish proverb: What you are is God’s gift to you; what you do with yourself is your gift to God.

Day 31: Understanding Your Shape

Only you can be you. We’ve all heard that a lot. But what about this: If you don’t make your unique contribution to the Body of Christ, it won’t be made. Hmm. That one got me thinking. And you know what? I like it. I really like it.

Day 30: Shaped for Serving God

Ever wonder why you think and behave the way you do, like and dislike the things you do, cry and laugh about the things you do? Well according to The Purpose Driven Life, it’s because God deliberately made you that way.