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Living a Life of Purpose

As I sat down to write about “living a life of purpose”, I found myself struggling to define my own purpose in this current stage of my life. Different seasons bring us different stages with new and often challenging roles to adjust to, but if you let God’s presence guide you, these times can help you grow closer to Him.

But it is important to remember that your stage in life does not define you. No matter where we are at in life, Christians can be certain of one things: we are called to worship God, our Creator. That is, we are called to be in a relationship with Him, to serve Him, and to love Him.

Knowing God

Worship is our chance to reflect on God’s majesty. We can reflect back to Him the love He has shown us. Reading scripture passages, praising God in song, and giving our tithes and offerings are part of worship in most church services. It is an occasion to connect with God on several levels.

Scripture reading is meant to engage our minds. We can learn about the life God wants us to lead. Giving our offering engages our physical bodies because the money we give is the direct result of our efforts at work. Music, prayer and praise engage our spirit.  In this sense, we worship our God with all three aspects of ourselves.

Private prayer, Bible reading and meditation play a pivotal role in your personal walk with God, in building a relationship with him. Thinking of our worship as our active participation in building a relationship changes my approach to how I think about everything.

I find that writing my prayers in a journal helps me focus my thoughts and remember prayer requests. Sometimes I write notes from my morning devotional or the Sunday sermon.

My devotional time helps me with the call to learn more about God. My journal is a safe place to explore my questions and prayers without self-editing the way I might be tempted to do in group prayer. God is patient with our fumbling attempts. He sees our hearts.

Good Works as Worship

“For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10).

God calls us His workmanship, and He has graciously invited us to partner with Him to do good works—to love and to serve other people. How amazing it is that He wants to work with me!

He knows that our “skill set” is—to put it politely—unpolished. The Master Potter guides us and leads us to step forward to learn how to shape our actions and our lives into something meaningful and worthwhile. Our contribution to the art form of serving and loving others will always be a “work in progress”.

But don’t lose heart! The verse above tells us that God has already prepared good things for us to do. This means that if you follow His guidance, He will always be there to help your good works succeed.

Work as Worship

“And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men” (Colossians 3:23).

If we take the time to remember that God is always present with us, we can choose to treat our daily routines as an opportunity for worship. God has given each of us various talents and abilities (Romans 12:6-8) and it pleases him to see us use our gifts in ways that bring Him glory. Maybe it sounds silly, but when I do laundry or wash dishes for God, I make sure I do my best job possible and I enjoy it more.

Your career is another avenue where you can bring glory to God. How do you approach your workday? Think about the attitude you bring to your workplace. Whether your work is manual, corporate, or self-employed, how do you show up? Are you rested and ready to take on the day? We want to honour God, so we should want to give Him something better than our tired, “left-over” selves.

Start with a sense of anticipation. Ask God for guidance when you speak to people, talent to do your job skilfully, and wisdom to see ways to improve. It’s not about being a “mindless worker bee”. It’s about loving the job that God has put you in for this season. Put your energy into working with a God-driven purpose and you will be amazed at the difference!

Invite God to partner with you in each season of your life. Look for opportunities to show love and honour Him and serve others as you navigate through the ups and downs of life. If you let God’s presence guide you, you will grow closer to Him and live your life full of meaning and purpose.

~ By Kim Thompson-Pinder

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Comment(1)

  1. Reply
    Hassan Umar says

    I love the messages

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