What on Earth Am I Here For?
Why am I here? What is my purpose? Today I finished a book that addresses these questions. The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren has been sitting on my bookshelf calling my name and I finally read it. I’m sure you’ve heard of it because it is has been on the New York Times Best Seller list for one of the longest periods in history.
Here are some things that I walked away with:
- It’s not about you.
- If you want to know why you were placed on this planet, you must begin with God.
- Without a purpose, life is motion without meaning, activity without direction, and events without reason.
- There are no unspiritual abilities, just misused ones. Start using yours for God’s pleasure.
- You cannot fulfill God’s purposes for your life while focusing on your own plans.
- Knowing and loving God is our greatest privilege, and being known and loved is God’s greatest pleasure.
- You are as close to God as you choose to be.
- God’s ultimate goal for your life on earth is not comfort, but character development.
- God is far more interested in what you are than in what you do.
- Your commitments can develop you or they can destroy you, but either way, they will define you.
- Every temptation is an opportunity to do good.
- Don’t waste your pain; use it to help others.
- There are no shortcuts to maturity. Spiritual growth, like physical growth, takes time.
So if you happen to have this book sitting on your bookshelf and haven’t read it I hope you do. You won’t regret it. The only regret I have about this book is not reading it sooner.
