Quick time travel to the past when this book; Purpose Driven Life By Rick Warren, was gifted to me by a friend.
Time travel again to sometime in June or July, this year (sighs in forgetfulness) when I brought it out of my mini book shelf and decided to give it a shot.
Oh well!
I did start, but didn't finish. Not an attitude of an achiever, innit?
This time, for real, I have started and I must finish.
Amen? Amen!
So, for the sake of accountability, I will be reviewing each chapter, each day.
If you've been having questions about your existence, significance or essence, why you were born, why you are here on earth, what you should be doing with your life and all of that "What is my life even about?" thoughts, then you should get your hands on this book.
Am I sure about what I just said?
I definitely am.
Today, I read Chapter one, with the title "It All Starts With God". And here's what I learnt.
1. Often times, we think that our achievements at work, school, career or ambitions equals living a fulfilled life.
And then, when it seems like we aren’t doing record - breaking, mind blowing and really amazing things, we just automatically tell ourselves that we aren’t "living".
I'm going to admit that I've lived on with this mindset for a really long time.
I used to let my grades determine if I was living a fulfilled life or not.
But all that changes today.
Not to say that excelling at school or work isn't a good thing, but we should be careful to understand that these things do not define us.
2. To understand what our purpose is and why we are here on earth, we must look to the one who put us here on earth. God.
Before now, in order to grasp the essence of my being, I would outline my interests, strengths, goals and possible career choices, and tell myself that once I begin to work towards achieving all of these, then I’d be living my best life.
For context sake, I'm obsessed with anything that has to do with digital media; photography, videography, cinematography, video editing, SFX, animations, music, production, filming, broadcasting, social media etc.
Marching around with any of the skills as a 'big boy' has for the longest time been my "self imposed" life purpose.
God was probably looking and laughing at me, while I fantasized.
You can pretty much imagine what it means to be a "big boy" in the media industry.
In a nutshell, you cannot arrive at your life's purpose by starting with a focus on yourself.
You must begin with God.
3. Being successful and fulfilling your life's purpose are not the same time.
I know your head is spinning right now, but here's the thing. Being successful by the world's standard isn't purposeful living.
If we must look to God for our purpose, then we must do things the "Kingdom Way"
4. The way to discovering your purpose is by asking God. He made you. He is your source.
That starts by having a relationship with Jesus Christ.
It's really easy. You start by receiving salvation (Romans 10:9-10 of the Bible)
[vs 9] Because if you acknowledge and confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and in your heart believe (adhere to, trust in, and rely on the truth) that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
[vs 10] For with the heart a person believes (adheres to, trusts in, and relies on Christ) and so is justified (declared righteous, acceptable to God), and with the mouth he confesses (declares openly and speaks out freely his faith) and confirms [his] salvation.
Romans 10:9-10 AMPC
It really doesn’t matter what your life has been, you can have a relationship with Jesus Christ.
Now!
He thinks about you, every single day.
Best believe, He gives the best hugs too.
"You may have felt dark about your purpose in life. Congratulations, you're about to walk in light"
This here, is what I learnt from Day One.
When you can, take a look at Colossians 1:16.
See you in my next one.
Ciao!
