More Than a Self-Help Strategy

Photo by Mark Williams on Unsplash

With a visit to your local bookstore (if you can find one), you will quickly find that there are shelves loaded with what will likely be labeled as "Self-Help" books.  From the latest in weight-loss solutions, mindfulness, and positive thinking, to strategies for organizing your home, being more productive and making a fortune.

We often peruse these titles, looking for a way to improve our lives...lose weight, gain skills, or sharpen our business acumen...desiring to become the best version of ourselves.  Sometimes they help, sometimes they don't.  Some of the advice we find in these books is beneficial and may lead us to greater understanding and strategies to make definite improvements.  However, some of them will lead us to a self-absorbed focus on the things that only end in emptiness and disappointment.

Purposed 365 is more than a self-help strategy.  It goes beyond the idea of  becoming the best version of ourselves.  P365 is about each of us understanding our reason for being...answering the question of why I exist.  While it is true that understanding our purpose will make it possible for us to be the best version of ourselves, it goes so much further than that.  Living a purposed life makes it possible for us to be keenly aware of how we can be a part of something bigger than ourselves...something that makes an eternal difference in the world in which we live and the people with whom we interact.  No matter what journey we are on, what career path we traverse, or what stage of life we are in, when we understand our purpose lived out in those unique and personal avenues of our lives, we become partners with the God who created all things and wants to bring life, peace and fulfillment to each of us.  That is why we believe the things we write about and talk about here in the P365 community are of the greatest importance...that's why we are excited to invite you to join us in this pursuit.

Where Does it Begin...This Pursuit of Purpose?

Understanding and pursuing our purpose is not just a decision to turn over a new leaf or set a few new year's resolutions.  It begins with transformation and renewal.  When we come to understand our need to be connected to our Creator and receive his life and peace through His Son, Jesus Christ, we undergo a transformation as a follower of Christ.  That means that our thinking begins to change and our perspective on the world morphs.  As we are reminded in the letter to the disciples at Corinth...

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, and see, the new has come!  2 Corinthians 5:17

This new perspective begins the process of discovering our purpose and the call to live it out in the daily functions of life.  Our relationships, our careers, our ambitions, and our choices become intertwined in this greater purpose of making a difference in the world in which we live.  We become representatives of the very One who has designed us uniquely and planned ways for us to uniquely impact our world and the people who inhabit this planet.  The Apostle Paul continued in the passage from which I quoted above...

Everything is from God, who has reconciled us to himself through Christ and has given us the ministry of reconciliation.  That is, in Christ, God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and he has committed the message of reconciliation to us.  Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ...  (2 Corinthians 5:18-20a)

Now, before you run the other way, thinking, "I'm not a preacher!"...or, "That's too much responsibility for me!"...let me assure you that these words are not just for career ministers and pastors.  Just remember, anything God has called us to do, He will equip us to complete.  The exciting thing is, when we begin our journey of faith and the life of a follower of Christ, we get to be representatives of Him to our world.  Being His ambassador is at the center of living out our purpose, three-hundred and sixty-five days a year.

What Does that Mean for You?

Whether you are a long-time follower of Christ, or you are just stepping into this journey of faith, your renewal makes it possible to see your life through the lens of purpose.  I like what a pastor said about the Scripture passage I referenced above...one way to live our purpose as an ambassador for Christ is to "be a loving friend, who is available to others."  No matter what your current situation, career, or life stage, you get to live your purpose as an ambassador of Christ, being the unique individual God has created you to be, living the best version of yourself.  There is nothing more fulfilling and more impactful than that!

Where are you on this journey of faith...seeking, learning, serving?  What is one thing you've come to view differently as a result of becoming a new creation?  How are you, or how could you, be a loving and available friend to someone today?  Share with us in the comments and let's get the conversation going!

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