Everything has a purpose. There are flowers growing somewhere right now that no one alive will ever see, there is gold and jewels in the earth that will never be found, there are words spoken that have been carried off by the wind that no ear ever heard.
“Therefore whatsoever ye have spoken in darkness shall be heard in the light; and that which ye have spoken in the ear in closets shall be proclaimed upon the housetops.” (Luke 12:3)
Have you ever considered that every action you take, every word spoken, every movement, thought and idea has a purpose in your life, that there is a very specific reason for everything that occurs in your life? It’s called cause and effect, our cause is to lift up the Lord Jesus Christ to the glory of God, the effect of that cause is so that He will be glorified. They are one and the same thing.
I fear that many who profess to serve Him are more concerned with themselves, specifically with their thoughts, than their interactions with others. Trying to keep every thought captive for Christ, bridling their tongue, not forsaking the assembling of themselves together, for what would people think? Our greatest enemy is our old sinful nature, and we seem to spend much of our time, I will say, overly concerned about ourselves in that regard.
I understand that many people later in life wished that they would not have been so concerned with what others thought about them, but I believe what we think about ourselves, especially those things we find repulsive to us, detrimental, dishonoring to the Lord, is what most are mainly concerned with. And if that is true, then the inverse would be true as well.
“Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.” (Prov. 16:18)
I offer you a truth, let’s see if you can accept it. If you are continuously concerned with what others think about you, or with what you think about yourself, either in a positive or negative framework of mind, then your purpose is you.
I ask a question of you then, if you are dead in Christ, why would your purpose be anything other than the glory of God?
You’re trying to be a better Christian, aren’t you? Trying to be more profitable, more humble, more loving and understanding. You are trying to be a better you, right? As long as you are overly concerned with you, whether it be what others think of you or what you think of yourself, you are not overly concerned with what you should be thinking about.
What God thinks about you.
“But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8)
Puts a whole new perspective on your thoughts, doesn’t it? Does He love you, but hates the sinner in you that is your old nature? Does He sing over you when you are praising His name, but frowns upon you when you fall into a temptation? Can you honestly think about yourself the way that the Living God thinks about you? Never leaving you, never forsaking you, eternally loving you, compassionate, full of mercy?
If you are continuously thinking about the flesh that serves the law of sin, then your purpose is self-centered, even if you are doing so because you want to be more profitable for His glory.
To be filled with the Holy Spirit is to be dead to self, understanding in all humility that you are a work in progress, you are not sanctified, you are being sanctified.
Start honestly contemplating what you actually believe God thinks about you, and you will come to a greater realization of what that word “love” means.
Your purpose will become Him.
