Searching For SignificanceSample

The Purpose

Discovering Our Purpose

We’ve looked at our search for significance and the inherent desire that drives that life-long search. We’ve seen how that search for meaning was tainted by sin, and we’ve seen how God’s plan is to draw us back to himself through this innate drive for our lives to matter. We’ve also looked at how God has redeemed us through his Son, Jesus, and adopted us into his eternal family.

But how does that impact the purpose of our life? How does all this background and plan play into our significance?

Throughout Scripture, we see verse after verse declaring the glory of God. About us declaring the glory of God, about all of creation declaring the glory of God. Everything was made with the purpose of pointing our hearts and minds back to our Creator. That is the whole reason why we exist.

Glorifying God

This innate drive for glory brings our search for purpose and meaning back to God. Sin tainted that drive, and all too often we seek after our own glory and exultation. But that’s not why he created us — he created us for his glory, for his exultation, for his splendor. And when we surrender our lives to him and choose to live for his glory rather than our own, we find our true purpose and meaning. We discover the significance we’ve always longed for. We can find satisfaction in the life he created us for — through a dynamic and active relationship with our Creator.

In his book, Desiring God, John Piper sums it up well when he says, “God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him.” And that’s where we discover the purpose of our life — to bring God glory.

Points to Ponder:

• Take a moment sometime today to search for verses that talk about glorifying God. It’s a frequent topic throughout Scripture, and this consistent theme cannot be escaped or ignored.
• When you struggle with living for your own glory rather than God’s, what are some things you can do to realign your heart and mind to the purpose and plan God has for your life?