Ever asked or wondered about the answer to that question? I have. Quite often in fact. When things are going alright I ponder it in a more philosophical way, but when life is rough I really wonder how I can find it out. Well, without trying to sound like a know-it-all, I believe I just realized what it is.
Now, at this point a Christian is waiting for when, after a long explanation, I say to bring glory to God, and everyone else who knows about Christians is thinking something similar. Well, that's not it.
Wait, before you brand me a heretic or crazy, though I'm probably the last one, I'd like to share what I realized tonight.
It started earlier today. I did a lot of driving for work and thoughts and ideas were bouncing around in my head all day. Then, after work I was spending time with my girl when I realized what I was thinking. It was something about whether Loving someone was worth it. My instant answer to myself is that it's not about whether it's worth it or not, Love isn't about what you can get from someone.
It took me until later, after I'd left, for the lightning bolt to strike, as it were. That's what the Bible says about Love, right? It is constantly talking about how Love is self-sacrificing, doesn't seek it's own, and always perseveres. Then my thoughts switched over to the fact that God Loves us. And lastly it touched down on why are we here, why did God create us?
My first thought was a typical Christian answer, to glorify God. A moment was all it took before I felt prompted to put it another way. So I re-thought it to a rephrased way, our purpose is to bring glory to God. At that point I am always overwhelmed with the inevitable next question, how do I bring glory to God? A million answers follow and I feel like I fail so many of them, that I could never do all or even most of them, and that it's so hard to know if I am glorifying God. That's when I had the rug pulled out from under me.
I felt as if a whisper asked, what if that isn't it? I was instantly on guard. Of course that's it, God created everything to bring glory to Himself. Another almost imperceptible question, if He created us and Loves us, would making us only to glorify Him be true Love? I was about to rattle off another Sunday school answer when what i'd been thinking about the whole day seemed to fall into place. Love is not self seeking, like at all. Two things that I couldn't be any more sure about is that God Loves us and that Love does not seek its own. So there I am, left with a difficult impasse and so I asked for wisdom to unravel this conundrum, and God let me catch a glimpse of why I am here.
God Loves me, that's possibly the best place to start. He created me because He Loves me. He knew me before I was born and His desire is that I walk with Him, have a relationship with Him, and that I know Him. He shows that Love every day as He cares for me, provides for me, and forgives me. Right now, the most popular Christian opinion is that God created me to honor Him, it is said in the Bible. But as I was thinking, I wondered if that is truly selfless and I could only come to the conclusion that it's not. You may say God isn't being selfish here, or that He's God and deserves all honor, glory and praise. And both of those are correct, but He didn't create us to honor Himself. He created us to Love us. That's what Love is, selfless.
Now, maybe that seems like heresy, maybe you're completely lost, or perhaps this has been as big a light-bulb as it was for me. But whichever it is, the question remains, why are we here?
Well, let me get to that. So, God created us to Love us. Evidence of that is clear in the Bible. He wants us to enjoy life, to find joy in Him, and to bring joy to each other. He created us without Himself in mind, only caring for us. But then comes the break in the perfect plan, we break away from Him. We don't want to follow Him or have any part with Him, we want what we want, kinda typical for most of humanity. That separates us from God who has a Holy standard that is absolute.
From there the cross is where hope is restored, Christ dies and those who Give their lives to follow Him are reunified with God's Love for us. Then we end this by saying that we are supposed to bring glory to God and be nice Christians, then end.
....But that isn't right, and that still always left me feeling like there was a yawning gap where I was trying to find my purpose in life. And that's what finally came to me. As I was wondering whether Loving someone was worth it, I realized it isn't. You don't get when you Love, you give. Love isn't about self, it's about serving the other even when you're tired, it's about laying your problems aside to care for another's, and it's about being there when the other isn't there for you. And I realized how terrible I am at that.
That's when the whisper of a voice said, that's the purpose. I was confused, my purpose is to Love? I guess it made sense, God is Love, and Christ did say that He wished were one with Him as He is one with His Father. If God is Love, then being one with Him would mean being Love as well, and I am far from that. So I am trying to Love? Our purpose in life is learning how to Love those around us? Yes. Plain and simple. God desires that we learn to put others before ourselves, seek to serve even when we're hurting, and never act for our own gain.
Okay, sounds like a tall order, and it is. But it brought me such joy, even though it was mixed with sorrow. I finally know what my purpose is, not some obscure ideology or Biblical quip, but the honest truth that God designed me for, to Love. And, as I was thinking about it, the Bible is still true when it says our purpose is to bring God glory and to honor Him. When we follow His example to Love, we honor Him. When we serve others through Love is bring glory to the one who is the author of Love, the Lover of our souls, and role model of Love.
But with that is sorrow, I fail so often at Love. Tonight I was too preoccupied with myself and muffed it. I am realizing how infinitely far away from who I was made to be I still am...guess that lines up with the Bible too... But there's hope, God's promised help, guidance, and has an endless supply of patience. So with His help I can get there, I can strive toward that goal.
That's it. I don't know if that struck you as it struck me, but that's my purpose in life now and for eternity. My purpose, and your purpose, is to learn how to Love. It's a lifelong journey, ask anyone over the age of fifty, especially if they have a family. But now I understand and see a little bit more about my God and all it ever does is make me want to know more about Him, and with perseverance He gives me the sight to see and the wisdom to understand.
Living to Love,
Joshua
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