The Purpose Experienceনমুনা

God’s Guidelines for Your Purpose Statement

When we take God’s visions and dreams for our lives and create a practical plan, it will produce purpose. Purpose brings hope! Hope is what gives you a reason to hang on.

From the very beginning, God has given us the guidance we need. He’s shown us clearly the things He wants us to notice—even to the point of creating things in the sky and writing them clearly in His Word. Paying attention to these principles provides big-picture instructions for stepping into our purpose. In Habakkuk 2:2, we even learn the importance of writing our vision down.

Loving God and others will lead you to your purpose. In order to write our statements, we must first look at God’s priorities. God’s first priority on earth for us is twofold: to love Him and to love others. The Great Commandment of Mark 12:30-31 (NKJV) says, “‘And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment. And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

We must first love God with everything in us. Then, we must love our neighbors. The problem is that many don’t love their neighbors precisely because they don’t love themselves. Just look at our world today. In Colossians 3, God describes forgiveness and love as “your basic, all-purpose garment” (MSG). The Word admonishes us to never be without it. Loving God enables you to love others. If you can’t, it’s likely because one of the two prerequisites is missing.

God’s second priority for us on earth is the Great Commission. In Matthew 28:18-20, Jesus said to His disciples, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 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, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Everything we put energy into should somehow impact others by showing them the love of God. This is the purpose and mission of the church. It’s our personal mandate as well. No matter what purpose we live out, at the core, we are to make disciples.

Your vision should reflect the truth that your reason for existing is to solve a problem in a way that demonstrates God’s love for humanity. These two guiding stars will keep you centered on God’s priorities. Both should also have an eternal impact—they should be focused on how to impact the culture around you and point others to Jesus, teaching them His ways and building His kingdom. When your life is used to bless and solve problems for others, you are truly living with purpose.