Purpose Statement.

If you were to write a ‘Statement of Purpose’ for your life, what would it look like? Or put another way, ‘What’s your story?’  It would follow that how you choose to order your life would flow from that.

I’ve been thinking about that . . . I believe my life is a gift from God, (especially since my mother had previously had her ‘tubes tied’ and was 45 years old when she had me!)  Life is a gift from God, and what I do with it, is what I give to God.  Oh, I often fall short, but he never gives up on me.  Amazingly, God gracefully continues to weave a tapestry out of my life.   Now the quality of the tapestry God is weaving depends greatly on me because it is the purity of my love, my thoughts, my words and actions that determine the quality of the thread I place in his hands. 

The only way to keep the thread pure is for me to stay fixed on God—to mindfully keep him as my centre. Truthfully, when I keep God as my Centre, it means that I care more about how he feels about something than my own wants and desires.  But when I get to thinking that ‘life isn’t supposed to go this way,’ or ‘I deserve more than this,’ or ‘I’m entitled to be happy…’ I set up a slippery slope to indulging myself into a position of compromise.  The one thing that helps me keep my gaze fixed on him is:                                                                                                                   intentionally placing a priority on God’s words and God’s will for my life.

Scripture reveals a God of love,  justice,  mercy,                                                                                                                                                 

passion, order,  power,                                                                                                                                              

grace, purpose, majesty,                                                                                                                                          

wisdom, eternity, holiness,                                                                                                                                           

creation, loveliness,  marvel,                                                                                                                                          

excellence, and mystery. 

We can learn about God through someone else’s experience, but it is our own experience of him that radically changes us.  What he says about himself and how he feels about us are vital to our understanding of our place in the world, and our purpose in this life.  We experience both in the pages of Scripture.  His words are divine, alive, relevant, personal and applicable, not archaic, obsolete, staunch, superfluous, or boring. 

That’s the reason I devote so much of my life to studying, reading, and writing Morning Briefings, of which someone wrote recently: “While there are many different aspects to Christine’s ministry, Bob best knows her as the author of the “Morning Briefings”. These daily emails have two purposes—to go verse-by-verse through books of the Bible, and also to weave in timely, discipleship lessons that are apropos to endeavoring to live the Christian life …” 

Folks have asked why I write Morning Briefings, which led me to think about my statement of purpose, and the fact that I believe the Word of God is invaluable in my life.  And yes, Bob was right—I have taught verse-by-verse through many of the New Testament books (James, Luke, Acts, several of Paul’s letters, including 1 and 2 Corinthians and more…archived at www.pastorwoman.com); in addition, I write on issues of the Christian faith that are salient to living our lives on purpose for him.**   If your statement of purpose includes keeping yourself centered on God, then feasting on God’s word should be key to your diet!

Christine

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**Topics on the Pastorwoman website include: prayer, promises, spiritual growth, prophecies, identity … check it out.