"What Is My Purpose?"

Victory Can Be Yours!

Article # 40 –“What is My Purpose?”

In article #39, we considered three questions that every person must answer.  The first question was; where did I come from?  It was concluded, by Scripture, to be from God.  The second question, what is my purpose, is not so easily answered.  It seems clear through the Scriptures that God created man that man should bring Him pleasure, honor, and glory.  “All nations whom You have made shall come and worship before You, O Lord, and they shall glorify Your name.” (Psalm 86:9)  We are His ambassadors and should desire to continually bring pleasure to Him in all that we say and do.  “For you have been bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body.” (1 Cor. 6:20)

Possibly the best example of what our purpose should be comes from the Apostle Paul.  He states, “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.  But if I am to live on in the flesh, this will mean fruitful labor for me; and I do not know which to choose.  But I am hard-pressed from both directions, having the desire to depart and be with Christ, for that is very much better; yet to remain on in the flesh is more necessary for your sake.” (Phil. 1:21-24)  Paul is writing this from a Roman prison, chained to a Roman guard.  Paul is saying that whether he is released from the Roman prison or if they cut off his head, (which they did) it would be all about Christ, for Him or with Him.  To live free from prison, he would be ministering to the believers in Philippi for Christ, to enhance the Christian experience and to help them become more like Christ and to build up their treasures in Heaven.   But, to die would be gain for him because he would then be with his Lord and Savior for eternity.  This is an example all of us should desire to follow.

What a passage!  What an attitude!  This is the attitude that he was trying to pass on to his Christian brothers and sisters in Philippi and to us.  Even when he knew that he himself would be better off with Christ, he thought it more important to live on for those he was ministering to.  This was to be a lesson of selflessness.  Paul’s purpose was, “according to my earnest expectation and hope, that I will not be put to shame in anything, but that with all boldness, Christ will even now, as always, be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death.” (Phil.1:20)  Our purpose should be the same, the exaltation of Christ in everything.

You, too, can have victory in Jesus!  More to follow.

Lowell Parrish