Scores of people know what they do but they don’t know why they do what they do. Many have found success but not significance. And when we stop long enough and look deep within our soul the feeling that comes over us is purposelessness.
Purpose is your reason for being, your answer to the question, “Why do I get up in the morning?” It provides direction, like west. It helps you choose where to go along the route. It, also, provides drive. Everyone is driven by something—their past, their parents, their peers, their partner. But the life that matters is driven by purpose.
You can find your purpose by doing the following:
- Conduct a spiritual audit by assessing your present.
Before an architect begins a blueprint, he inspects the property site, assessing environmental factors that could either enhance or restrict his final design. Before a coach begins the rebuilding of a losing team into a championship team he assesses the talent of his players to determine if they are being utilized in the right positions.
You don’t always get in life what you expect unless you inspect. To assess your present you need to ask, “Who am I?” and “Why am I here?”
2. Determine your purpose.
Rick Warren stated in The Purpose Driven Life, “It’s not about you. The purpose of your life is far greater than your own personal fulfillment, your peace of mind, or even your happiness. It’s far greater than your family, your career, or even your wildest dreams and ambitions. If you want to know why you were placed on this planet, you must begin with God. You were born by his purpose and for his purpose.”
Every man and woman, therefore, should seek to determine the purpose of living a life that glorifies and honors God.
3. Focus on a single-minded pursuit.
In the chapel of the Billy Graham Training Center at The Cove, in Asheville, NC, is a small museum dedicated to the life and ministry of Billy Graham. A framed copy of the articles of incorporation of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association sealed on September 17, 1950, in St. Paul, Minn., established the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. Its statement of purpose reads: “To spread and propagate the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ by any and all . . . means.” That has been Billy Graham’s one thing. He has focused his life in a single-minded pursuit.
The key to a purposeful living is discovering your “one thing,” and, then, pursuing it with single-minded devotion. Too many of us are too involved in “many things” when the secret of purpose is to concentrate on “one thing.”
4. Let go of the past.
We all have a past. We can’t change the past, but we can change the meaning of the past. We must not allow any past experience to hinder our efforts in the future.
Pumbaa in The Lion King was right: “You got to put your past behind you.”
Ask yourself, “What from my past is preventing me from reaching my purpose?” If it is a sin ask God to forgive you. He not only forgives, he forgets. If it is a mistake, learn from it then proceed on. God is a God of grace. Open the gift and move on in spite of your past.
5.Pay the price.
For every worthwhile prize in life there’s a price. For every cause there is a cost. Great purposes require great sacrifice.
The cause is worth the cost. The prize is worth the price.
