Whatâs Our Common Purpose?
Whatâs Our Common Purpose?
The Westminster Catechism says our purpose is:
đ âTo glorify God and enjoy Him forever.â
John Piper tweaks it:
đ„ âTo glorify God by enjoying Him forever.â
Great answers! But letâs make it even more practical.
Love God. Love People.
I believe God calls us to experience and love Himâand to experience and love others.
Thatâs the Great Commandment (Matthew 22:36-40).
But hereâs the thingâŠ
đ We canât love God while ignoring people.
đ We canât love people while neglecting God.
Why? Because Godâs heart is always for people, and He is the source of ALL love.
Love = Fulfilling Godâs Purpose
Paul puts it plainly:
đĄ âWhoever loves others has fulfilled the law.â (Romans 13:8)
đĄ âLove does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore, love is the fulfillment of the law.â (Romans 13:10)
Loving others isnât a side missionâitâs the whole thing!
What Does Godâs Love Look Like?
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It treats people how weâd like to be treated.
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Or even betterâhow God wants to treat them.
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It ...
"Do You Love and Appreciate You? Here's Why It Matters"
Godâs greatest gift to you ⊠is YOU!
Without you, you do not exist.
God made you on purpose, with purpose.
You are not a random mixture of ingredients, but rather the culmination of desire, intent and planning â orchestrated by God. You are exactly what He thought of when He dreamt of you. He used your family lines, history, geography and circumstances to form you. You are His personal handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works that He has prepared in advance for you. (Ephesians 2:10)
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Our two primary responses to Godâs personal gift are to love Him with all that we have and to love our neighbors as ourselves. (Mark 12:30-31) There are three love objects mentioned in this Great Command and Commission: God, others and ourselves.Â
In my faith circles, I have heard a great deal about loving God and loving others, but I havenât heard much about rightly loving myself. Rather, such a thought has often been looked at with suspicion â as if it is a selfish and/or self-absorbed ...
Itâs Time to Grow Up
If you pay attention to media youâve undoubtedly noticed that thereâs a lot of instability in our cities, our country and in the nations. Some people seem to change their opinions like changing their clothes â almost daily. Others lock-in on their perspectives and try to convince everyone to agree and join them. How about you, are you a wobbler, or are you an immovable object?
In Ephesians 4, the apostle Paul helps us see how to develop and grow in healthy stability. As we learn to serve others according to God's unique enablement we all mature. (Verse 12) Those serving mature through the exercise of service â serving strengthens our inner person. Those who are served benefit from the help they receive. Serving well is a win-win for everyone.
As we mature, we become much less likely to fall for peopleâs schemes and scams. (verse 14) We no longer look for magic or for others to show us the easy way out. Mature people can recognize the wisdom of God, and are prepared to act on it and i...
How to Behave Like a Good King
When I was very young my older brother and I loved to play King. We would make card castles, and we would drape blankets over our shoulders. Weâd throw cards at each otherâs castles until we eventually destroyed them. Then we would traipse around with our blanket-trains following us, declaring that we were the conquering kings.
There is something deep inside our beings that loves the idea of kings and kingdoms.
A time is coming when, âthe kingdoms of this world will become the Kingdom of our Lord and His Messiah, and He will reign forever and ever.â (Revelation 11:15) Jesus is the King of kings and the Lord of lords; every knee in heaven and on earth and below the earth will bow before Him. (Philippians 2:10) He is the Benevolent Ruler who gives life, rather than takes it. He fights to free people, not conquer them. He is the One who provides for His people, rather than receives provision from them. His kingdom is one of life, not death; health, not sickness; hope, not doubt;...
How to Build a Good Name
âWhereâd all the good people go?â Thatâs a question singer song writer, Jack Johnson, asked in his 2005 hit song, âGood People.â It seems that media has so highlighted dysfunctional, rebellious and selfish lifestyles that we may be forgetting what solid living looks like. Men and women are finding it difficult to find good people to date; some are getting frustrated and others are getting scared. Whereâd all he good people go?
We all have our faults and areas of brokenness. However, we must choose to live with some bedrock values. Solomon mentions two such values in Proverbs 3:3-4, âLet love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. Then you will win favor and a good name in the sight of God and man.â
They may not get many hits or views on YouTube, but love and faithfulness go a long way in real life. To love others is to treat them as God would treat them â with honor, care and connection. To love others is to express and s...
Does Your Obedience Feel Burdensome?
Have you âfallenâ in love with anyone â I mean really in love? When that thing comes on you, your life changes. Everything else â even important things â seems to wane. Life in many ways gets put on the back burner, and you become practically obsessed. When your mind wanders from your tasks, it generally goes toward the person of your great affection. And, you find yourself willing to pay great prices to be with that person. You are willing to drive/travel long distances and go without much sleep to be with him/her. Almost nothing can hold you back.
This love-behavior is true of our relationship with God, too. "This is love for God: to keep His commands. And His commands are not burdensome." (1John 5:3) We ultimately express our love to God through our obedience to Him. Love and lordship are one and the same in relationship with Christ. To love Him is to recognize and relate according to who He actually is, the Lord. We grow through obedience and we remain close through obedience. Obe...
How To Live With One Another
What if God designed us to live in meaningful relationship with others? What if He wants us to impact and be impacted by each other so that we might be changed and transformed in the process? If this were actually Godâs design and plan, how might it affect how we act toward others and how we receive from them?
God has placed the lonely in households (Psalm 68:6), with families, friends, workmates and possibly most importantly in the household of faith. He has made us to have effect on each other. It is as if our souls have been created with permeable membranes that allow overlap and exchange when we come close to each other. We experience the most exchange with those who come closest. Maybe thatâs why we can be so irritated by our spouse, family or good friend. It can also explain how we pick up mannerisms, expressions and worldviews from each other.
The New Testament is peppered with verses that describe how we can best relate to âone another.â They express how the Kingdom of God i...
No More Fear Paralysis
When was the last time you failed? Was it huge or a small mistake, a breakdown or a collapse â or have you intentionally suppressed memories of your failure?
Most of us hate failure. Failing makes us feel ashamed. It threatens our identity â as if our identity could be built on consistent, flawless performance.
We need to remember, however, that failure is a significant and important part of life. The only way a child will ever learn to walk is by failing thousands of times. People of great accomplishment have a long string of failures to which they can very easily point.
Winston Churchill, widely regarded as one of worldâs great wartime heroes, defined success as âgoing from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm.â
The best way to deal with a fear of failure is to press ahead, try some new things and fail a few times. You will find that the fear of shame associated with the fear of failure is ten times worse than the actual failure. The paralyzing questions related to, âW...
How Well Are You Listening?
Most arguments seem to spring from a sense of not being heard or understood. When we are not understood we tend to press our point or perspective harder. Unfortunately, our extra efforts and energy can be threatening and put others on the defensive. Change is needed.
At a number of junctures Jesus is recorded as saying, âWhoever has ears to hear, let him hear.â These words were always clues indicating that the listener needed to employ a spiritual, kingdom understanding in order to grasp the point Jesus was making. He was encouraging His hearers to slow down, ponder and ask Godâs help to understand the things of the Spirit.
In Revelation, we see Jesus using the same expression for people to understand His messages to each of the seven churches. He said, âWhoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.â We, too, need to take time to listen and discern what God is saying. We need the Spiritâs help to understand what the Spirit is saying.
Isnât the same thing tr...
How to Deal With the Three Ugly Stepsisters: Worry, Doubt, Fear
Sometimes people believe many of the ârightâ things about God and have fairly solid theology, yet their lives seem none the better for it. How can this be? Often we have rebellious rumblings under the surface of our consciousness. They can go undetected unless we take time to allow them to surface and intentionally address them.
Worry is one such rumbling that can rob our spiritual lives. It is a deceptive thought/feeling. It can make us feel like we are being responsible when we are not. Worry never helps a situation. Jesus told His disciples not to worry about their lives, clothes or food. He asked, âWho by worrying can add one hour to their life?â (Luke 12:24) Paul said not to worry or be anxious about anything, but instead to
bring our concerns to God. (Philippians 4:6)Â Peter exhorts us to cast all our anxiety upon the Lord who cares for us. (1 Peter 5:7)
Doubt can also creep into our relationship with God. We may start to wonder if our faith in God is real. We might wonde...
