Leadership Thought: What's Your Purpose in Life? 

Dear Friends,

Yesterday at our staff meeting I played a brief two-minute message from John Maxwell on finding your purpose in life. I thought it was an excellent message and one that would challenge each of us to think or rethink our purpose in life. John Maxwell simply said that the way we find our purpose in life is to determine our passion and discover our gifts and talents and when we do this, we will find our purpose, or what God has designed and created us to do.

When we look at our passion and ask ourselves what excites us, what energizes us and keeps us awake at night and combine that with what we are good at, our natural talents and our giftings, we will discover our purpose, or what God has designed us to do.

Each of us went around the table wrestling with these two questions: "What is our passion" and "what do we do well," and the discussion which ensued was so valuable that I thought it worth sharing with you. One of the hardest things about answering these questions was to acknowledge what we were good at for we all feared  being accused of being prideful, and yet in doing the exercise I was wonderfully reminded that what I am good at has nothing to do with me, for it is all due to Him. God is the giver of my passion and He is also the giver of not only my gifts, but my natural attributes and abilities, so why should I be embarrassed to acknowledge what I excel in since any abilities that I possess are not my own but simply a gift from Him.

That is why one speaker I know, who, after being applauded for delivering a message, will simply turn and say to his audience, "Thanks, but you are not applauding me, but you are applauding God for He is the one who has enabled me to do what I do well."

So, what's your purpose in life, and if you know it, how well are you fulfilling it? If the answer is not very well, then maybe today is the day you make some lifestyle alterations.

Hopefully when you do, your purpose will look something akin to the answer given  in the Westminster Shorter Catechism to the question "What is the chief end of man? It is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever."

Yours in faith and friendship,

Pastor Tom