It Starts with Service...

Photo Credit: Nichole Miller

I was asked a question last week at the "Open Book" book club. "How do I find my purpose?" That't a question whose answer I wish were much easier to find than it is. As a believer, I told them that you MUST inquire about your purpose from God. After all, He is the Creator of mankind- this is central for the believer. I often critique each sermon and interview and after leaving the book club, this question has continued to reverberate in my mind. 

For a while, I wondered if I'd answered correctly. Maybe there is a way to identify your life's purpose without asking God. What about people who don't believe in God...their lives have purpose too, right? Sure does and the bible tells us that God yet has a purpose for them-even as an unbeliever (2 Peter 3:9) But..there was one answer that proved elusive for me. "What did I leave out?" I continued to ask myself, but today the answer perfectly came to me! 

As we celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. I must say that a person in pursuit of their life's purpose will find either purpose or the trail to discovering purpose in their service to others! When we seek the reason we exist, part of the answer is discovering in asking yourself the question, "how can I serve humanity?" Jesus gave us part of this when He said that all 10 of the commandments from God were summed in two commandments: 

Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying, Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment.  And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. Matthew 22:35-40

First, love God and then others. On those two commandments hang the law and the prophets, according to Jesus. In this era of self-love and me-first ideologies, take time to serve. What in your everyday life can be used to serve others? You'd be surprised how big an impact even the smallest increment of your existence could be to someone else, in their life. Random acts of kindness aren't so random, when done on purpose! So, as you pursue purpose, don't neglect to be purposeful about your service to others!