I look around myself daily and see many, many people who struggle through life. They are unhappy more than they are happy, and their goals are rather simple and (can I say it without offending?) empty.
These people stumble into and out of relationships, stumble into and out of jobs. They might start a family, work for years, make a bit of headway on their mortgage, and then "come to them self" after their prime has passed and wonder where their life went and whether it was worth it. If any conscious direction exists, it has been set with a low bar, and even then it has not always been achieved.
So what is missing?
An ability to set goals? Partly, but everyone can imagine them self as a hero, or just better than they are now.
A sense of accomplishment? Maybe. Significant achievement is addictive and until you establish a pattern here you don't know the feeling you are searching for.
Is it due to a lack of ability? I don't think so - my students do some amazing things and demonstrate some pretty incredible creativity and thinking, though inconsistently.
Maybe it is motivation, inspiration, purpose, and drive - the part of the formula that gives energy to the do-er and carries them through the low times with enough momentum to keep things moving forward. This is a huge part of the puzzle that is missing for many people, young and old, rich and poor, all over the world.
Then, how can it be fixed?
Morality is needed. An understanding of what is good, and what is evil. What could lend more purpose than this? We all want to do good, don't we? That's why we root for the goodies in movies, and feel a sense of happiness and satisfaction when the baddies are overcome. At heart, we all want to be the goody who is overcoming the bad guy.
But how do we know what is good and what is not? As babies and small children, we have strong urges toward selfishness. This is a useful survival mechanism perhaps, leading to getting fed, changed, and cared for. As we grow up that selfishness becomes destructive - we engage in conflict with our surrounding peers, until we begin to understand that other people have a right to things that we want also. We learn that our carers have authority and power that we don't, so we listen to them and learn from them - this usually shapes the rest of our morality. But what shaped their morality? How do we know what is truly right and wrong? We need a lasting authority that cannot be argued with.
God (If you don't believe in God, just humour me for the sake of this). What does God have to do with it? What can a "mythical" being contribute to morality that you can't come up with on your own? Well, a mythical being can't come up with anything since a myth doesn't exist. But if God exists, He lends an enormous weight to any description of what is good.
Consider the attributes of a God...
...and not just any god. Think of one who is truly big enough and powerful enough to make an entire universe.
God is eternal, existing forever into the past and forever into the future. He knows the beginning, the end, and everything that happens in the middle; and He knows this for everything that has ever, or will ever, exist. Put it this way: God can see the eternal consequences of every single decisions that you will ever make, or could make. When you die, there will still be consequences raging on for the things that you have done.
Now imagine that you were given a task to do that would accomplish something good from God (and of course God is the expert on "good", or He wouldn't be God), and something that would have lasting consequences until well after you pass on. What if you had something so amazingly good to put your hand to that it would have positive eternal consequences? Would that give you purpose? Of course it would! And God is the only one who can give you such a purpose because He is the only one who can say what will bear everlasting fruit.
What else? God is powerful, able to create a universe just by speaking it into existence. Let's add power to the mix then. That could mean that God doesn't need us, lowly humans, to accomplish His purposes, but for a moment consider that He made us. That means we are significant to Him in some way, and that He chooses to use us and work through us somehow. So our hypothetical question now becomes, "What if you had a positive eternal purpose to try and accomplish, along with the power from God Himself to help you achieve that goal?"
With such a situation, there is no chance of losing. You are creating something good, something lasting, and something that is sure to succeed. It's never a cheap and easy victory though, because God loves us to struggle along the way, perhaps growing us during the process into something better. But even though it seems hard or impossible at times, we can know that our purpose will never be foiled if God is for us.
If you're not convinced of the need for God, try to think how this works without Him. Where is the absolute certainty that your purpose is good? Where is the power to accomplish it coming from? Where is the certainty of lasting effect? And what prevents you from setting the bar too low and finding too easy victory that is unsatisfying?
What then?
If you're prepared to accept that an eternal and powerful being exists (who has a vested interest in humanity's success) then what? How do you learn His purpose or His will for you? Holy writings from God perhaps? But which religion?
If you are considering these things then I suggest you start here. The page leads you through some short articles that build the picture that many already possess.
And if you decide to go your own way, then all the best with that. Even if you don't see the need for God, I hope you can take a few things out of this article anyway. Namely, the knowledge of how to set goals in a way that will give you purpose and inspiration, i.e. Goals that are achievable, have a sense of good about them, and that have a long-lasting effect in your life and the lives of others.
Take care :-)
Sam
Showing posts with label purpose. Show all posts
Showing posts with label purpose. Show all posts
Saturday, February 18, 2012
Thursday, August 11, 2011
How do we do this thing called life?
Just recently, a Christian friend posed the question above in a Facebook status update. I have no idea what led to the question being asked, but an air of frustration, or even desperation, seemed to come through. Whether I read the situation right or not, I always feel that such questions are deserving of careful consideration and genuine answers - especially coming from brothers or sisters in Christ.
Before I get to my reply, I want to dwell a moment on some of the other responses. I was struck in two ways by some of the comments. First was the manner in which the comments were made. Despite this being a serious existential question, it was treated to humourous responses, which did have an edge of seriousness but still failed to address the gravity of the question. Second was the actual advice offered which focused on material pleasure, presumably as a source of happiness, implying that we “do life” to get as much pleasure and happiness as we can.
Now, I don’t think that it is wrong to seek happiness, but the forms of pleasure that were mentioned the most (food, sex, drugs, and the like) do not bring any lasting happiness, and if taken to excess, or in the wrong way, are severely damaging. In fact, these things have a huge potential to hurt or to disappoint! I actually think that the pursuit of happiness (or joy) is part and parcel of our number one purpose. Even more, I believe that the pursuit of joy is a divine command that, if not obvious, is strongly implicit in a plain reading of God’s revelation to us in scripture (the bible).
So getting right to it, the answer that I offered my friend is below; and I would like to explain the answer in more detail, including how our happiness is fulfilled within this pursuit. Here’s my take on how we do this thing called life:
“Love God and love your neighbour. Easier said than done but the same One who commands also enables those who try in His name.”
If I was to quote the Westminster Catechism, a document based on the bible and designed to summarise and teach the Christian faith - completed in 1647; in the very first question and answer, you might see some of how I arrived at my response:
Q. 1. What is the chief end of man?
A. Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.
In only a short (and hopefully obvious) step, we can see that to glorify God (or honour Him) is to keep his commands, and in this is the meaning of life and the way to “do” life. Jesus summed up all of God’s commands by telling us to love God and to love our neighbour (Luke 10:26-28). Basically, love everyone but love God first. It also seems obvious that if we keep the opposite of this, i.e. not loving God or others (which includes ambivalence), is a dishonouring of God and is where all that is called “sin” is rooted.
Knowing that we should love is one thing, but managing to do that successfully for the rest of your life is another. Nobody can do it perfectly. God knows this, but He has mercy on those who try and he does not count their mistakes against them. He even goes so far as to strike any past offenses (deliberate or not) from their record. Even though we cannot love perfectly, we are still expected to try, and God has said that He will help anyone who tries. Even more, he inspires us to want to love, shows us how to love, and makes it so that we can love.
The final part of my response is about trying “in His name”. This is crucial, because anyone who tries to love in their own name and power will be seeking their own glory. Unfortunately for every person on earth and who has ever lived, we cannot accomplish this. We are unable to love “in His name”. This is because everything that we do is ultimately to serve our own pleasure in life. As fallen human beings, we need fixing before we can operate outside of ourselves. God steps in and does the fixing, often when we least expect it. This fixing process has many stages, but begins with being re-created or born again, and then the ongoing work that keeps us improving in our ability to love is called sanctification.
I realise that it is a huge mouthful to swallow, the claim that everyone is self-serving until God steps in, but that is a topic for another time. Feel free to discuss it in the comments if you are moved to reply.
As a concluding comment, I want to contrast the happiness that comes from loving God alongside the happiness that comes from the material pleasures of this world. For happiness to last it must be grounded in something lasting. The main contrast here is that God is eternal and material pleasures can only last as long as we are alive to enjoy them, many of them passing in scattered moments during our lives anyway. This means, that the only happiness we can count on for ever, and in any circumstance, is grounded in God. This is the truth and the means to do this thing called life.
May God bless you with joy everlasting!
Amen
Before I get to my reply, I want to dwell a moment on some of the other responses. I was struck in two ways by some of the comments. First was the manner in which the comments were made. Despite this being a serious existential question, it was treated to humourous responses, which did have an edge of seriousness but still failed to address the gravity of the question. Second was the actual advice offered which focused on material pleasure, presumably as a source of happiness, implying that we “do life” to get as much pleasure and happiness as we can.
Now, I don’t think that it is wrong to seek happiness, but the forms of pleasure that were mentioned the most (food, sex, drugs, and the like) do not bring any lasting happiness, and if taken to excess, or in the wrong way, are severely damaging. In fact, these things have a huge potential to hurt or to disappoint! I actually think that the pursuit of happiness (or joy) is part and parcel of our number one purpose. Even more, I believe that the pursuit of joy is a divine command that, if not obvious, is strongly implicit in a plain reading of God’s revelation to us in scripture (the bible).
So getting right to it, the answer that I offered my friend is below; and I would like to explain the answer in more detail, including how our happiness is fulfilled within this pursuit. Here’s my take on how we do this thing called life:
“Love God and love your neighbour. Easier said than done but the same One who commands also enables those who try in His name.”
If I was to quote the Westminster Catechism, a document based on the bible and designed to summarise and teach the Christian faith - completed in 1647; in the very first question and answer, you might see some of how I arrived at my response:
Q. 1. What is the chief end of man?
A. Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.
In only a short (and hopefully obvious) step, we can see that to glorify God (or honour Him) is to keep his commands, and in this is the meaning of life and the way to “do” life. Jesus summed up all of God’s commands by telling us to love God and to love our neighbour (Luke 10:26-28). Basically, love everyone but love God first. It also seems obvious that if we keep the opposite of this, i.e. not loving God or others (which includes ambivalence), is a dishonouring of God and is where all that is called “sin” is rooted.
Knowing that we should love is one thing, but managing to do that successfully for the rest of your life is another. Nobody can do it perfectly. God knows this, but He has mercy on those who try and he does not count their mistakes against them. He even goes so far as to strike any past offenses (deliberate or not) from their record. Even though we cannot love perfectly, we are still expected to try, and God has said that He will help anyone who tries. Even more, he inspires us to want to love, shows us how to love, and makes it so that we can love.
The final part of my response is about trying “in His name”. This is crucial, because anyone who tries to love in their own name and power will be seeking their own glory. Unfortunately for every person on earth and who has ever lived, we cannot accomplish this. We are unable to love “in His name”. This is because everything that we do is ultimately to serve our own pleasure in life. As fallen human beings, we need fixing before we can operate outside of ourselves. God steps in and does the fixing, often when we least expect it. This fixing process has many stages, but begins with being re-created or born again, and then the ongoing work that keeps us improving in our ability to love is called sanctification.
I realise that it is a huge mouthful to swallow, the claim that everyone is self-serving until God steps in, but that is a topic for another time. Feel free to discuss it in the comments if you are moved to reply.
As a concluding comment, I want to contrast the happiness that comes from loving God alongside the happiness that comes from the material pleasures of this world. For happiness to last it must be grounded in something lasting. The main contrast here is that God is eternal and material pleasures can only last as long as we are alive to enjoy them, many of them passing in scattered moments during our lives anyway. This means, that the only happiness we can count on for ever, and in any circumstance, is grounded in God. This is the truth and the means to do this thing called life.
May God bless you with joy everlasting!
Amen
Saturday, September 4, 2010
What is Our Purpose in Life
So much in life depends on having strong foundations to your thinking. Every decision you make and every goal you pursue must have a reason behind it. Forming a coherent view of the world will make these decisions and goals much easier to arrive at, lending a strong purpose to your life. Even the most joyful and un-depressed of us need a reason to live, otherwise our lives are shallow and empty and we are doing things for mere selfish happiness.
First, let me look at how you might find an accurate view of the world. Then, I will show you my view, some of how I arrived at that view, and what that view does for giving me purpose and direction.
How to find an accurate view of the world
I’m assuming, of course, that we would want an accurate view of the world (and existence as a whole). If we didn’t then that means we are happy to live in self-delusion rather than potentially shattering our false reality.
There are a number of things that a world view needs to address. Here are a few of those things:
Some places that people look to answer these questions are friends, parents, books, religion, experiences in life, studies, etc.
In order to form an accurate view of the world you need to accept that there is a true reality and that it can be know to at least some extent. Otherwise, why bother looking? Better to remain in self-delusion again.
So the search for an accurate view of the world is really a search for truth about the world/universe.
My view of the world and how I arrived at it
I am a bible believing Christian so my answers to the above 5 questions are:
How I arrived at this view amounts to the same as how I became a Christian. This story has many facets but I’ll give one side that is relevant to the above.
I figured that the universe doesn’t come from nothing and that it couldn’t exist without some reason. This led me to believe in a Creator. The order in the universe (largely seen through a science background) led me to believe in truth. The search for truth led me to the bible as a source of truth, which after reading convinced me that it was the source of truth. I saw the truth of myself as a wicked person at heart, I desired to change, and then the glory of the cross gave rise to a light inside of me that has been at work ever since.
How that view gives me direction and purpose
Every decision I make can be brought down to one key principle that is applied using the question: “Which decision will give the greatest glory to God?” While there might be some work in deciding where the greatest glory for God will come, it gives a starting point for every problem, question, and choice that is before me in life. All obstacles become manageable.
Through the lens of this question, I can learn how to deal with all of my thoughts, words, and deeds to bring them into line with the purpose of my life. It becomes easy to make moral decisions because all I have to do is frame the outcomes of each choice with God’s glory. That’s how I can say that killing someone is wrong, because it is effectively defacing the image of God (in which He created man). That’s how I can say that war is, at times, justifiable; because it is protecting those who are unable to protect themselves from harm, and they are also made in the image of God and deserving of protection. The greater glory is to kill those who deface the image of God in their unjust actions. Because God is a God of justice, I know that I can take action to ensure that justice is done, even if it means causing a civil war.
Finishing
Other world views have their own answers to the questions I listed. Some are quite shocking in their moral outcomes. I would suggest that you need to do a bit of searching if you can’t answer any of those questions for yourself. It would mean that you have a fairly shallow life that is more about bouncing around in a reactionary way, purely influenced by the culture of the world around you and not by rational thought. Don’t live a life that revolves around a deluded view of reality. Search for the truth. It will bring you lasting happiness when you find it and when it frees you!
First, let me look at how you might find an accurate view of the world. Then, I will show you my view, some of how I arrived at that view, and what that view does for giving me purpose and direction.
How to find an accurate view of the world
I’m assuming, of course, that we would want an accurate view of the world (and existence as a whole). If we didn’t then that means we are happy to live in self-delusion rather than potentially shattering our false reality.
There are a number of things that a world view needs to address. Here are a few of those things:
- Where did everything in existence come from?
- What is the nature of man?
- Does God really exist?
- If God exists, what is His nature?
- What is the meaning of life?
Some places that people look to answer these questions are friends, parents, books, religion, experiences in life, studies, etc.
In order to form an accurate view of the world you need to accept that there is a true reality and that it can be know to at least some extent. Otherwise, why bother looking? Better to remain in self-delusion again.
So the search for an accurate view of the world is really a search for truth about the world/universe.
My view of the world and how I arrived at it
I am a bible believing Christian so my answers to the above 5 questions are:
- God made it (except Himself because He is not subject to creation as a being who exists outside of creation)
- Currently, man is in a fallen state of existence and is wicked down to the core of his character. Though he might perform “good” deeds, he does so without the proper motivation. Those who are new creations have been fixed of this core wickedness but this fixing will see completion at a later date (when Jesus returns).
- Yes.
- God is holy (something completely different and special from everything else), God is good, God is just, God is merciful, God is in control of everything. God is a whole lot more than any description man gives to Him.
- The purpose of man is to glorify God through lives of worship. Enjoying the life of worship is so closely related to glorifying God that amounts to the same thing, but God’s glory must come before our happiness, otherwise we can never truly be happy.
How I arrived at this view amounts to the same as how I became a Christian. This story has many facets but I’ll give one side that is relevant to the above.
I figured that the universe doesn’t come from nothing and that it couldn’t exist without some reason. This led me to believe in a Creator. The order in the universe (largely seen through a science background) led me to believe in truth. The search for truth led me to the bible as a source of truth, which after reading convinced me that it was the source of truth. I saw the truth of myself as a wicked person at heart, I desired to change, and then the glory of the cross gave rise to a light inside of me that has been at work ever since.
How that view gives me direction and purpose
Every decision I make can be brought down to one key principle that is applied using the question: “Which decision will give the greatest glory to God?” While there might be some work in deciding where the greatest glory for God will come, it gives a starting point for every problem, question, and choice that is before me in life. All obstacles become manageable.
Through the lens of this question, I can learn how to deal with all of my thoughts, words, and deeds to bring them into line with the purpose of my life. It becomes easy to make moral decisions because all I have to do is frame the outcomes of each choice with God’s glory. That’s how I can say that killing someone is wrong, because it is effectively defacing the image of God (in which He created man). That’s how I can say that war is, at times, justifiable; because it is protecting those who are unable to protect themselves from harm, and they are also made in the image of God and deserving of protection. The greater glory is to kill those who deface the image of God in their unjust actions. Because God is a God of justice, I know that I can take action to ensure that justice is done, even if it means causing a civil war.
Finishing
Other world views have their own answers to the questions I listed. Some are quite shocking in their moral outcomes. I would suggest that you need to do a bit of searching if you can’t answer any of those questions for yourself. It would mean that you have a fairly shallow life that is more about bouncing around in a reactionary way, purely influenced by the culture of the world around you and not by rational thought. Don’t live a life that revolves around a deluded view of reality. Search for the truth. It will bring you lasting happiness when you find it and when it frees you!
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