Stronger Purpose
by Gary Johnson
Happy 2023! I trust that you enjoyed a Jesus-filled holiday season and are well into your new year routine. Along with millions of Americans, did you make any new year resolutions? Here at e2, we have targeted this new year with focused pursuit of being STRONGER, not in terms of physical strength, but when it comes to our walk with Jesus.
It seems that we often hear news of committed Christians being confronted with consequences for taking a stand for their faith in the workplace, community and within their families. To that end, we have carefully – and prayerfully – chosen twelve key aspects of the Christian life in which we hope to be STRONGER. Each month of 2023 will have that targeted emphasis in our Friday blogs, and this month of January is focused on our having STRONGER PURPOSE.
You probably have read – or at least heard of – Simon Sinek’s book Start With Why. It is a great read and I often practice his theory of the golden circles: start with why, then move to how and end with what. That structure helps me to understand and pursue a stronger purpose in life.
WHY is a sense of stronger purpose important?
First and foremost, we need to remember that each of us has been made for God’s glory. God said as much through the prophet Isaiah (Isaiah 43:7, emphasis added) “…everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.” There it is and these are the words of God Himself! Your purpose and mine in this life is to bring glory to God with every day He permits us to live. The moment we awaken in the morning should also be an awakening in our minds that we have the gift of yet another day of life to live for the Lord and not for ourselves, and to live in such a way that exalts Him, bringing Him greater glory today than we did yesterday.
HOW do we fulfill this God-honoring purpose?
Simply put, we strive to live like Jesus. When we do so, we bring glory to God. We have been made in God’s image (Gen 1:26-27), which infers we should resemble our heavenly Father in our words, thoughts, and actions. To that end, when we claim to be Christians, we are commanded to live as Jesus lived (1 John 2:6). The only way we can increasingly think, speak, and act like Jesus is in the strength of the Holy Spirit. God, our Father, is spirit (John 4:24) and He has no skin. Jesus is God with skin (John 1:14) in that He came and lived among us. Yet, the Holy Spirit is God in our skin (1 Cor 6:19-20). The moment we surrendered our lives to Jesus Christ and were immersed, the Spirit came and began living within us – and it is by His strength alone that we increasingly become more like Jesus (i.e., sanctification) when we depend upon and cooperate with the Spirit (i.e., not grieving Him, Eph. 4:30). He enables us to pursue a stronger sense of purpose day-to-day in living for God’s glory, no matter what we do vocationally or with whom we do life relationally.
WHAT is necessary for a stronger sense of purpose?
We each must have a change of thinking. To sincerely and intentionally live God-honoring lives, bringing Him ever-increasing glory, means that we must deny ourselves. Jesus defined what a Christian is: “Anyone who would come after me must deny himself, take up his cross daily and follow after me” (Luke 9:23). For that deepening devotion to occur, we must become what Paul referred to as “living sacrifices” (Rom 12:1). To present our bodies as living sacrifices is an act of worship, and for us to sacrifice our daily lives for the glory of God, we cannot be “conformed to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of our minds” (Rom 12:2). In other words, we must think differently. No more casual commitment to Christ or lukewarm, part-time pursuit of God.
For years, between Thanksgiving and Christmas, I create a “Life Map” for the upcoming year. It is built on the strategy of what I call “a preferred future.” In three sentences or less, I describe what I have become on December 31st of the next year as a husband, dad, grandpa, elder, and follower of Jesus. Then, I develop some initiatives to pursue throughout the year to help me reach my “preferred future.” Here is a link to a free e2 Talk explaining this exercise that you could use with your elder team.
To experience a STRONGER PURPOSE in 2023 requires stronger surrender. Perhaps we could pray: “Lord, I am willing to receive what You give, lack what You withhold, relinquish what You take, suffer what You inflict to be what You require. Amen.”
What if each of us began each day with this prayer of surrender—and God answered our prayers? I believe it would be said of us that we live with STRONGER PURPOSE.
