Today we are going to talk about living a life of purpose!!
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Jesus
lived a life of purpose! He came down to earth leaving behind the glory of
heaven and trading all of that in for the confines of a human body; all so that
he could lay down his life on the cross. He came as the one and only perfect sacrifice
and laid down his life to give the gift of salvation to all who believe. Jesus
came down to earth with that purpose and he lived every day of his life here on
earth set hard fast toward fulfilling his purpose! Everything Jesus did on this
earth was done with an aim toward that end purpose! Let’s look at what the
Bible says about our purpose; and be inspired to live lives in light of that
purpose!!
The Bible
makes it clear that the ultimate purpose of all who live on the earth is to
bring honor and glory to God and to share his message of salvation with others!
Let’s look at some verses on the topic of purpose!!!
*Purpose
to bring honor and glory to God*
Matthew
5:13-16 “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste,
how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except
to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet. “You are the light of the
world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and
put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house.
In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your
good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”
We should seek to live
lives that honor and glorify God in our actions, attitudes, and our words. This
alone brings God honor and glory just through us living in reverence of him but
it gives a double dose of praise honor and glory to God when the way we live
our lives shines so brightly it causes others to praise his name too!
*Purpose to share the gospel*
Mark
16:15 “He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all
creation.”
Jesus
laid down his life on the cross for us so that we could be forgiven of our sins
and saved if we put our trust in him! The ultimate purpose we can serve in this
life is to share this gift of life with others who do know Christ and his
message of salvation!!
*Purpose
to Shine for Christ with our spiritual gifts*
Romans
12:1-5 “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present
your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your
spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the
renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God,
what is good and acceptable and perfect. For by the grace given to me I say to
everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think,
but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that
God has assigned. For as in one body we have many members, and the members do
not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and
individually members one of another.”
It is awesome to think that God hand crafted
us each as unique and treasured individuals with our own skill sets, talents,
and gifts. It is so special to think that God put each and every one of us on
this earth for a special purpose! That
thought makes me so overwhelmed with joy; that God created of the universe, has
a special plan and a special purpose just for me! Because of Jesus I get to
have relationship with him and I get to be a part of his amazing master plan!!
Think about that for a second;
did you know God created you with your talents, skills, quirks, strengths and even
your shortcomings on purpose; so you can be a special part of his plan and
participate contributing something to this world that only you can!!! God made
us for relationship with him, and that means he, as God of all the earth, has
invited us to participate! He wants us to do something amazing for him with our
lives! Think about your unique talents, your spiritual gifts and what special
way you can do something amazing for God with them!! Set out to live with
purpose; using all the things that make up you, for God’s kingdom purposes!
1
Peter 4:10-11“As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good
stewards of God's varied grace: whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of
God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in
order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him
belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.”
Romans
12:6-8 “Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use
them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; the
one who teaches, in his teaching; the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the
one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who
does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.”
Living with purpose means living to honor and
glorify God and bring others to his saving grace but that doesn't mean we are
all made to do that in the same way! God gave you amazing gifts and abilities
and equipped you for a ministry that is unique to the person He made you to be!
God planned you to be exactly who you are and he has a special purpose for you!
Take a look at your spiritual gifts given you by God and think about how you
can use them for God’s glory, and ultimate purpose; sharing the gospel.
When we think about ultimate purpose;
it is easy to think that must mean being missionaries, pastors, or people
working in ministry at the church. These are great ways to serve the Lord and
might be the perfect purpose for some of us but the truth is that these are not
the only forms of ministry out there. God made you the way you are on purpose
and he has a special purpose for you!
Take a second and think
about what your spiritual gifts are, your
talents, special abilities, and personality,
all the unique qualities that God wove
together to make you; you! Try this idea;
grab a sheet of paper and a pen and write
down some things you enjoy, things you are good at, talents that come naturally
to you, your interests, things people
have told you that they think you are good at….take a moment and think about
where you truly shine. Then think about how you can combine those things with
ministry and do something great to make a difference in the world for Christ!! Take
all that you are and use it to shine for Christ!
For me I made a list of all
the things I love and things God has gifted me with and it looked something
like this:
Writing, Bible study, fashion, making people feel good about
themselves, fitness, dancing, make-overs, beauty tips, reading, working with
kids, encouraging others, shopping, talking.
Don’t be shy just lay out
who you are on the page! Open up and be
real with yourself and with God (he already knows your quirks, your sillyness,
your most embarrassing qualities) Think about it he made you; he already knows
if you have a deep love of boy bands, an obsession with star wars, a love of
interpretive dance. I have talking on my
list of talents for goodness sake and if that isn’t an awkward thing to write
out I don’t know what is. Just be real, be you, embrace the wonderful person
that you are, the special person God created you to be! Own It; be completely you!
God can use anybody! God can use you! He wants to use you; he put you on earth
with a purpose!! Allow God to speak to your heart and share with you where you
can best shine for him!! No matter how silly something might look on the page
it isn’t! God made you just the way you are and wants you to use your unique
talents to make a stamp on the world in his name that only you can make. Look
at all the things that God put together to make you who you are and then
together with him start to look at how you can use those things to live with
purpose for him.
For me it made since to
combine the talents that God gave me to write on studying the Bible, fashion, beauty,
and fitness. I write to make people feel good about themselves, to encouraged
others, to help make others feel beautiful and be inspired to shine in to the
world for Christ’s name! This is my ministry it is unique to me because of the
person God made me and it gives me all joy to live with purpose doing what I love
to do, honoring and glorifying God, and fulfilling the highest purpose of my
life leading others to Christ and sharing the gospel message with them.
I honestly feel that this
is where God wants me, what he created me to do, and I love serving him in this
way! Would I shine my brightest singing in the choir and making a difference in
the world for Christ through music? Absolutely not! My voice makes some of the
American Idol audition failures look like Broadway stars. With that in mind I
know my voice is not my best tool for touching people’s hearts in Christ’s
name. For me my best tool is writing! For you it is whatever God has gifted you
with! What is the thing that makes you truly shine!? Take whatever that thing
is and get involved shine for Christ in that circle! You are most useful when
you are doing something you are good at…the thing God created you to do!
I hope you enjoyed this
post and are inspired to shine bright for Christ!!!
Please check back in
tomorrow for the next character quality it is going to be a mystery because I’m
not sure which one I want to blog about yet ;) also check out the beauty blog
for some Spring fitness inspirations!!! http://brookehoffmanbeauty.blogspot.com/
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