It seems from childhood we're oriented away from purposeful living. I can't imagine how many times I did something wrong and then tried to defend myself with the phrase, "But I didn't do it on purpose!" While that never seemed to get me off the hook of trouble, it may have been a telling sign of things to come.
To live "on purpose" is no easy thing. Consider Rick's book, and the accompanying Purpose Driven Journal, and Purpose Driven Daily Calendar, and the Purpose Driven Night Light (okay, I made that last one up...I think), the purpose of each of those resources is to help people live "on purpose." More than great marketing, the vast selection of "Purpose Driven" products indicates we need tools and resources to live on purpose. We need reminders to live "on purpose" and even if we are reminded to find our purpose and then live it... the bottom line is it requires a bunch of hard work to do it.
Life is much easier when lived simply on "cruise control" or "auto pilot." There is little thought required about what we've been or what we're becoming. But living on purpose requires a ton of effort and some much needed resources. One of the things we need to live on purpose is intimacy with the Creator (He is the One who ultimately knows what we're created to be). If we avoid intimacy with the One who made us, then it is much easier to avoid who we really are.
Living on purpose also demands personal integrity and honest self-evaluation. Those long stares in the mirror of self-reflection (even actually physically staring into a mirror long enough to deal with yourself is a powerful experience -- for more on this, see my blog entry on Sept. 22, 2008) can be a sobering. Not only taking the inevitable criticism from others, but inviting input from friends and trusted advisers is necessary to see ourselves for who we really are and to be more aware of who and what we're becoming.
To have those things in your life are as blessed as they are necessary and sometimes you have to go find them. I've not always been one who sought out critical input, but over the years I've seen myself move from resisting it to actually welcoming and inviting it. I have some of the best friends and confidants ever, who love me enough to be honest about what they see in me and are willing to walk with me toward being better. I have found space in my life that allows me to test who I'm becoming without rejection. All of those things are not only necessary for my life, they have been put there on purpose.
Though we all make too many mistakes, when we do make them, there is no need to say, "I didn't do it on purpose." Living a life "on purpose," we acknowledge our mistakes for what they are and then move on purposefully. Not everyone wants to allow us to do that. Some will hang our mistakes over us or never let them go. If that is the case, the burden falls to them to figure out their purpose, not to you. There is only one Judge and we can be assured, it isn't the person that won't let you forget your mistakes, especially those mistakes that were made when trying to live on purpose.
Every step we take, good or bad, is one step closer to a life lived on purpose. So keep moving along, my friend... we have lives to live, on purpose!
2 comments:
"Walk with me" are the pivotal words in this good blog, pastor. rtrr
Nice one ... "reminders" and "accountability." Without these, living on purpose is way beyond reach for the vast majority of us.
Maybe that's why God made church services. We are commanded to confess our sins one to another, and to eat together in memory of Jesus. Memorial and accountability - motivation and fellowship. what a concept - church created for man, instead of man created for the sabbath - er, I mean, church.
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