The Importance of Purpose

What do you live for? What gets your heart beating? What fires you up? Everyone lives for something.

The apostle Paul wrote to Timothy, "But you, Timothy, certainly know what I teach, and how I live, and what my purpose in life is" (2 Timothy 3:10). He also said, "For to me, living means living for Christ" (Philippians 1:21). To the church in Corinth he wrote, "For I decided that while I was with you I would forget everything except Jesus Christ, the one who was crucified" (1 Corinthians 2:2).

Paul had a determined purpose in life. What is yours? Is your purpose to have fun? It is for some people. Life is all about having fun. "I don’t care," they say, "let’s just have fun." Or maybe they are chasing after pleasure. Or maybe life is all about success. Maybe it is all about making money. Others live for sports. Some live for emotional experiences. Still others live for a relationship. But everyone lives for something.

As Christians, we should not be seeking happiness but holiness. The most unhappy people are people who live to be happy. If we seek after happiness, we will end up being miserable people. But if we seek to be holy—and by that I mean seek to be godly men or godly women—then we will discover that happiness comes into our lives as a byproduct. Don’t seek pleasure; seek purpose. Don’t seek success; seek significance.

That thing you live for, that god you bow before, will it be with you in your hour of need? If it is any god, any idol, anything or anyone else apart from God, it won’t be there for you. But the Lord will. Wherever you go, God goes with you. You have His Word on it.