What is Your Life Purpose?

What is your life purpose? It’s a thought-provoking question, don’t you think? Are you on this earth simply due to some biological function of life that brought you into existence? Are you just waiting for some future failure of other biological functions to take you out? Do you have a purpose for being here, or is your existence merely the result of some multi-billion year “crap game” that coincidentally put you on this celestial speck at this very moment in eternity? Or, is there more? Is there a planned purpose for why you are here?

The contemporary theory that has been evolving over the past several decades would have you believe that you are nothing more than a chance compilation of protoplasm that is, at most, evidence that no matter how impossible the odds, accidents can happen. And you just happen to be one of several billion accidents now living on this planet.

If this is true, then the modern mindset of “eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow we die”, becomes the ultimate expression of a happy and fulfilling life. But, is this all there is? Is this our purpose? Modern humanists and secularists would have us believe the answer to this question is, “Yes.” This is our only purpose and the reason why we should make all we can, take all we can, consume all we can, and enjoy all we can, because after this, there is no more. When it’s over, it’s over. How sad. How tragic.

Fortunately, there is good news. The humanists and secularists are wrong! There is more to man than simply his physical being, and there is a far grander purpose for our lives than to simply “eat, drink, and be merry.” Have you ever wondered why you, an individual of substantial means, of stature in your community, with education, of value (as our society counts value), have never been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize? Yet, a poor, elderly woman living in the slums of one of the most destitute inner cities of the world, serving a small handful of starving, dying, orphan children, having little education, no material wealth, and no station in life, has received one of the world’s most prestigious awards.

I’ll tell you why. Even though we have intellectually embraced the notion that mankind is nothing more than some freak coincidence in the millennia of time – that there is no spiritual side to our humanity – in our soul we innately know that there is a purpose and a dignity that elevates the value of human life above the “slime-pits” of primordial eras. The late Mother Teresa reminded the world of this fact by the way she lived and the work she did. Even a nonreligious, secular world has appropriately acknowledged her noble life purpose.

Let’s return to the original question. What is your life purpose? If we only allow ourselves to accept this physical world and our physical bodies as all there is, we will never come to a complete and satisfactory answer to this question. If you only acknowledge half of who you are, you will only be able to come up with half of the right answers. And when I was in school, I never scored very well on the test if I only got half of the answers right.

What is the other half of the answer? It is that man was created by a good and loving God who made us with a very specific life purpose. We are both physical and spiritual beings. Therefore, our goal in life is to discover what His purpose is for the entirety of who we are, both physically and spiritually. Now, before someone brands me as a religious fanatic, keep in mind that the vast majority of Americans still believe in God. So, I’m in the overwhelming majority. The problem is that we have been letting a vocal minority do most of our thinking, talking, teaching, and policy making for far too long. We do not need to be embarrassed that we believe in God and that we believe He made us and has a purpose for us. It’s the truth. Just because some would deny this truth doesn’t make it any less true, any more than insisting that there is no sun will make it cease to exist.

What is your life purpose? Why are you living in the most prosperous country in the history of the world? Why were you born here in America and not in a ghetto in Rwanda? Why do you have a healthy body and access to modern medicine instead of being plagued with malnutrition, tuberculosis, and/or leprosy? Why do you have such abundant wealth and a good mind?

Is it just “good luck”? Hardly. Someone has a purpose for your life. And when you find it and put it down in writing, your whole life will finally come into clear focus – maybe for the very first time. A study that was reportedly conducted on Yale alumni revealed that only three percent of the graduates surveyed had written plans for their lives. However, those with written plans accumulated more wealth than the other 97 percent combined. In addition, those with formal, written plans enjoyed better marriages, more contented family life and greater career success.

Answering the question, “What is my life purpose?” and then committing it in writing is the first step in developing your strategic stewardship plan. Once you have answered this most fundamental question, all the other questions regarding your lifestyle, your values, your wealth, your business, your children and grandchildren, including your legacy, capital gains, estate taxes and philanthropy will be answered quickly and easily. It’s the right way to plan. It’s the right way to live. 

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