It's no secret that the journey through life's hills and valleys can be equally beautiful and treacherous with the shifting seasons that come our way. Just like an intense Squid Game round where the odds can shift in and out of your favour in moments. Then, in those dark moments, we question things. What's the point of actually pursuing purpose when things are so difficult in my life? We hear the word being thrown around and we use it often, but does that mean we have a fundamental understanding of its importance?
What is Purpose?
Throughout the Bible we can acknowledge many mentions of 'purpose' and from those mentions, we can say that our purpose can be defined as a specific mission or mandate that is predestined according to God's divine will.
Furthermore, the Oxford Dictionary defines purpose as "the intention, aim, or function of something; the thing that something is supposed to achieve."
So, with both a Biblical summary and that dictionary definition, we can agree that purpose includes a subject, a mission and a goal that is to be achieved.
Does everyone have a purpose?
With this in mind, we must recognize that everyone on this earth, as an individual has a purpose.
We were all brought into the world with purpose overall. But, of course, we've found that varying persons have established their purpose in their own spaces, varying faiths, family, careers, etc. With that, persons have found their own type of fulfillment and are pursuing their own path based on their own beliefs... and it's absolutely important to acknowledge that from a Christian perspective.
The Importance of Christians Walking In Purpose
As Christians, we first need to recognize The Great Commission as our unifying purpose, and then our specific, God-breathed purpose as the secondary one that acts as our contribution to The Great Commission. For reference, Matthew 28: 16-20 houses this and it reads:
16 Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
So, as Christians, we have been commissioned to go into the world to share the Gospel with others so that others may know Christ, because, of course, God knows that not everyone will grow up believing in Him and furthermore, accepting the truth about Salvation through Jesus Christ, and would therefore seek to walk their own paths outside of God.
The Great Commission is further supported by another word, and PAJE's guiding scripture, that encourages us to share the words of our testimony as we go and share about God as we interact with persons within and outside the faith who thrive on relationship and relatability which helps others to become receptive and open to the existence of God and the understanding of Salvation.
(Mark 5:19: 19 Jesus did not let him, but said, “Go home to your own people and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.”)
It is through these same words that others will be able to be led to healing through God and to eventually accept Christ as their Lord and Savior.
So, when we acknowledge that everyone was born with a purpose and that we have a unifying purpose, as Christians, to make the good news known to man, we therefore now have a responsibility to avail ourselves in order to help others to discover their purpose in Christ, which flows from their understanding and acceptance of:
Who God is (The one, true, Triune God)
Salvation (The full understanding that Christ's death and resurrection made salvation accessible to those who believe, and also gave each of us the opportunity to have a personal relationship with God).
Their identity in Christ (how God sees us; as His beloved, not 'earning' grace and mercy, but rather receiving it through God's unconditional love, and then who we are established in the earth to be; salt of the earth, a royal Priesthood, set apart, light in the world)
Christian principles (as shared through God's Word and the guidance of Holy Spirit)
Their specific giftings (the special abilities that have been bestowed upon us as individuals)
As Kingdom people we have a powerful purpose that we are privileged to carry, and as individuals, it is a beautiful thing learning that your contribution through the use of your gifts helps to further the Kingdom in a big way.
Now, with that, we find that we sometimes get side-tracked or pulled from this understanding because we find ourselves entangled with other things that allow us to nurture our gifts and talents, and other environments and associations that are not 'overtly Christian'. These things cause us to feel fulfilled and make us feel encouraged to pursue them with true intention. These can be deemed as our passion and/or at least passionate pursuits.
Right off the surface you can see where the beginning of the conflict is, where we sometimes replace our conscious purpose pursuit with our desire to embrace our passions... and that, my friends, is a whole other discussion that you'll have to stay tuned for. In the next article, I'll be breaking down our passion, its importance and the correlation to purpose.
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