Living on Purpose

Do you know how many books you have to sell to be a bestselling author? Five thousand. Do you know how many copies of The Purpose-Driven Life have been sold? 40 million!

It is the best-selling hardback book in history. As in, of all books ever written. Why? Simple: people want to know their purpose. They want to know that they have a purpose, and they want to know how to find and pursue it.

Rick Warren, having already pastored for a number of years, knew that this topic would be a huge draw. When he met with the publishers to discuss the book, he said to them, “You don’t understand. This book is a 100-million seller.” It hasn’t quite gotten there yet, though it’s well on its way.

The premise of the book is phenomenally simple: Your life is not just about you; it’s about God and his purpose for making you. The reason that this simple premise resonated with 40 million-plus readers is that contrasts sharply with the basic human assumption that your life is about you and what you can get out it. We’ve all tried that, and it just doesn’t match up to its promises.

Phil. 2:12-13 lays out this idea with awesome clarity: “…continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.”

Paul is saying to his readers, “Keep following Jesus, because God is working in and through you for his purpose, and that purpose is good.” What’s not to love here? Not only does our life have a purpose, but it’s part of God’s bigger and good purpose.

Ultimately, humans want to be part of something larger than themselves. This is why we hear so much about people who’ve “made it” by the world’s standards then want to “give back.” They’ve lived for their own goals and achieved success – and then realize that it’s not enough. There’s something bigger that they want to tap into.

That’s how we were designed. Kierkegaard spoke of the “God-shaped void” in each of us. We don’t want to live a meaningless life; we want to mean something. And we know instinctively that there’s Someone outside our selves whom we were meant to commune with.

Christians have found this Someone in God. It is from him that we derive our meaning. At the theological level, we can agree that Phil. 2:12-13 is true, but the details of our specific purpose and path can be easily obscured by many factors, both from within and from without. That can leave us feeling confused, frustrated, stuck and even hopeless.

That’s no way to live! So, to help God’s precious beloved get clear about their identity, grab hold of their destiny and live a more purposeful, joyful life, I created the Identity and Destiny One-Day Crash Course. Eventually, this will be available as an online course, but for now, I teach it live. And the next time I’m offering it is Saturday, July 15, in sweet little Felton, CA. Here’s the event link for more details: https://tinyurl.com/ycnolc5u

Class size is limited to 20 attendees, so click that link ASAP if you’d like to more effectively partner with God to fulfill your purpose.

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