Purpose

This week I was listening to our Pastor's message from last Saturday (we missed church....) and was really encouraged by something he said.   For quite awhile I have struggled with knowing my "purpose" in life.  I truly want to be one of those ladies that knows why she was put here and is super successful in that area.  Like Joyce Meyer, or Beth Moore, or the Pioneer Woman or tons of other super successful women I know.  I don't want to be them.  I don't even want to be good at what they are good at.  I just want to know what it is that I am gifted at and do that to the best of my ability.  Usually I feel the opposite.  I feel like I am not sure why I am here, that what I am doing is not very successful and that somewhere out there is the real thing I am supposed to be doing, only I can't figure it out.

So, when my Pastor discussed purpose and what God's purpose was for our lives, I was all ears.  Here's what he had to say and why it encouraged me. 

God's purpose for our lives:

1. Be a worshipper of Christ. 

It is what we were made to do.  It is the most important thing we can do.  I can handle this.  Yes, I need to be more focused on worshipping, but it seems like a reasonable thing to get better at!

2.  Raise Godly children.

This is obviously harder.  Children are not easy.  The work required to raise good kids, much less Godly ones is pretty difficult.  It requires non-stop work and prayer.  It requires not giving up or giving in.  I don't always feel like a success in this area, but I am trying.  I know all of the work required and I know it is hard and yet most days I feel like being a mom is a waste of my potential.  That is probably not the greatest thing to say, but it is how I feel.  Like I don't quite contribute enough by just being a mom.  Listening to someone say that raising Godly children is my purpose helped me feel a little better about myself and made me realize the job of being a mom is more important than I give it credit for.

3.  Be faithful to church.

It is important to be in a good, Bible based church.  Being around other like minded people is essential.

4.  Be engaged in the spreading of the gospel and the winning of souls.

Sometimes this will be by inviting someone to church, other times from giving to missions, perhaps even leading someone to Christ.  The truth is you can be involved in the spreading of the gospel in many ways.

5.  Live a Godly life. 

It is easy to talk the talk, much harder to walk the walk.  We should stand out because of our actions, not because of our words. 

Each of these five things is something I can do, something I can work to be better at.  So even though I am not a wonderful photographer, cook, author, or whatever, I can work to fulfill my purpose.  I am doing something valuable and worthwhile.  I hope that each mom out there that has ever felt the same as me finds some comfort in this as well. 

Happy Friday!  Have a great weekend.

If you would like to listen to the whole message, you can find it here titled Repentance.