"What Is My Purpose?" The Answer May SHOCK You!

“What is my purpose in life? is a common question for the spiritually-minded to ask, Christian or not. Through the years, motivational speakers and writers have taken this desperate question and run with it, teaching us the “7 Steps To Finding Your Purpose” and “Ten Steps to a Fulfilled Life.” Even religious leaders have come on board with the idea that each of us has been put here to fulfill a specific purpose unique to the individual. I once read a book by one such leader who taught that if you missed that purpose, your eternal destination was a hot place void of God’s presence.

I’m not here to condemn anyone who seeks to put their life into positive action. Rather, I’m condemning the deception that has sent countless people into a mire of confusion, dismay, and discouragement because they couldn’t (can’t) figure out what their purpose was (is). And what happens because of that?

The tragic consequence of the Purpose Obsession.

They feel less-than. Unworthy. They read a certain book, and become convinced that thus-and-so is their purpose. Then life happens, and they’re no long able to pursue that purpose. They spend thousands of dollars on a conference, and think they’ve found their purpose…only to realize after wasting possibly years of their life and a lot of money that the “purpose” had been an idea born out of pride. Or, at least equally as often, greed.

You know what I mean. You’re supposed to be a missionary in a foreign country. Or turn your talents into a professional career. Or be the mom in your neighborhood with the best-behaved, most together, most successful children. Or climb the corporate ladder so you can be a witness for Jesus to all the minions under you. Or be a medical professional so you can save lives.

Did you ever notice that all of the steps in the books, blog posts, videos, and conferences that explain how to find your purpose are completely self-centered and self-serving? Yes, even those that come from the pulpit, that are supposedly based on the Bible.

May I make a confession? I used to be one of those people who ran after purpose. I used to be convinced that if I couldn’t find The One Thing God wanted me to do in my life, He would punish me. After all, God sent all the gurus, right? So we should follow all their different steps and get it together! If we don’t, we’re lazy and don’t care about living for God.

Seriously, that’s how a lot of people think, because the Purpose Deception Doctrine has insinuated itself into our lives so completely. Even among non-Christians.

The truth about purpose.

If that’s you, if you’ve been struggling to find your unique purpose, and thus struggle with feelings of unworthiness, I have good news for you: it’s all a bunch of poppycock.

I figured this out, in part, by looking at the majority of the world. The majority of the world lives in relative squalor compared to most (all?) who will read this article. They were born with certain talents, but they’ll never become singers or actors or writers or chefs because they’ll never have the opportunity. They don’t have the money to become a doctor or nurse or whatever. They make an income however they can, thrilled if they can spend fourteen hours a day working in a sweatshop, many of them unable to find a job and having to dig through garbage just to find a morsel of food to eat.

The truth is, our idea of purpose is an invention of wealthy, first-world society. It’s not godly or scriptural. When it comes right down to it, it feeds greed and pride.

It took me a lot of years and a lot of feeling like a failure before the message of God’s grace finally got through to me in all its purity. That message is that He loves us no matter what.

No. Matter. What.

More than that, He LIKES us. Just the way we are, right now, sin and all, failings and all, odd quirks and all. And because He loves us so much, He’s actually made the whole purpose thing easy. We all share the same two-fold purpose: to love, and to experience life the best we know how.

Some examples.

The job you have now may not be your favorite. However, it’s teaching you things you’ll need later in life. In the meantime, God’s will is for you to do the job with excellence, and to show His love to everyone you come into contact with through that job.

Say you love playing the piano, and not only volunteer your talent here and there, but have made some money from it. Then, you have a freak accident that causes you to lose several of your fingers. It’s okay, because entertaining or ministering to people via music wasn’t your purpose. It was what you did, how you expressed your creativity, and while you were doing it God used it to help others, perhaps including yourself. Now that you can no longer play the piano, you find other ways to serve and to work that will help the world become a better place.

How about this? You get bored easily, so switch jobs every year or two, and start small side businesses along the way which you eventually hand over to other people so you can do something else. One day you find yourself with a small nest egg saved up, and decide to quit your current job to travel the world for a few months.

You don’t lack purpose. Rather, your path leads you to experience a wide variety of people, places, and tasks, and as long as you’re living out of love as you go, learning and growing along the way, you are walking in purpose.

What about calling?

At this point, I hope that I’ve eased a huge burden off your shoulder. But even so, you may be wondering about that thing we refer to as “calling.” What are the differences between calling and purpose, if any? If they’re not one in the same, do we have to worry about hearing God’s call to one particular duty or career, whether temporary or lifelong?

I’ll address that issue in another post. Spoiler alert: those who are doing their best to follow God’s leading don’t have to worry about that, either.

Not that anybody has to worry, ever.

Because of this thing called grace.

A new definition of purpose.

Your purpose is everywhere, with everyone you meet. It’s being the most loving person you can, along with being the best person you can be given the current moment and all it's bringing to the table.

So relax. Enjoy life. In that enjoyment, “What is my purpose?” melts away, evaporates into a mist, and disappears as it becomes automatically incorporated into every step you take.