Finding your purpose

Your Purpose in the Present

Your purpose if found at the crossroads of what breaks your heart and what makes your heart beat.

Knowing where to look for your purpose is a good thing. You, like every other human being on the planet, is wired with a desire to have meaning, to have a purpose. Yet, we often don’t know where to find it.

Many of us look for our purpose in the past: If I had just joined the Peace Core when I was 21. Or, When I was 25 I should have pursued _____ rather than _____.

Others of us look for our purpose in the future: Once I’m established I’ll _____. Or, One day I’ll figure out what I reallywant to do.

Yes, you may have missed opportunities in the past, and yes, there will be more opportunities in the future, but the simple reality is that you have a purpose now, in the present.

Let’s Get Practical

Not sure what your purpose is? Do this: get a sheet of paper, orient it landscape, divide it into three columns. You can do this on your own, with one or two trusted friends, or with a group of friends.

Column 1: What Breaks Your Heart?

Write down everything you can think of that breaks your heart. Everything in our world, country, city, even your own home that makes you sad. I can’t believe _____ is happening! Don’t worry about writing down too much, write down everything you can think of!

Column 3: What Makes Your Heart Beat?

Write down everything that gets you excited, the things you love and the things that you are good at. Again, don’t worry about writing too much, get it all down!

Column 2: Your Purpose at the Intersection.

Here’s where the magic happens. Use column three to make connections between columns one and three. For example, if you have “kids in poverty” in column one and “painting” in column three, how might what breaks your heart and what makes your heart beat intersect?

Drawn a line between these two and use column two to brainstorm: work or volunteer in a local school as an art teacher, find an after school program and offer to teach a painting class, partner with a local non-profit to put together an art show for their students.

See how that works?

My Purpose

Here is what this looks like for me:

What Breaks My Heart?

What breaks my heart is people walking away from Christianity without ever truly understanding it or experiencing it. I grew up in the church, yet I did not understand the depth of the Gospel or the richness of a relationship with Jesus until I was nearly out of college. Many people give up on Christianity because they grew up with a watered down, “plastic” version of the faith that is not relevant to their adult lives. When people experience the depth of the Christian faith and walk away anyway, I can live with that. What breaks my heart is when people walk away without every having experienced the real deal.

What Makes My Heart Beat?

I enjoy talking to people and talking with people. For years I had a tremendous fear of speaking in front of groups, but in time I developed a passion for communicating to large groups. Similarly, I was an overly awkward teenager, but my awkwardness in groups led me to develop an aptitude for connecting with people one-on-one.

Finding My Purpose at the Intersection.

My purpose is to Introduce people to the God I never knew. I strive to talk to people (preaching) and with people (one on one discipleship) so that they might come to know God in a deep and meaningful way, a way I did not know God until I was an adult.

One Final Note

Still stuck? Here’s one last note: It’s difficult to know yourself without knowing God. The ancient Greeks said that God was the one in whom we “live and move and have our being.” Understanding ourselves without understanding God is like a fish trying to reach a heightened level of self-understanding without understanding water.

Want to fill in columns one and three? Spend some time getting to know what breaks God’s heart and you’ll discover what breaks yours. Spend time getting to know who God is and what makes God’s heartbeat and you’ll discover who you are and what makes your heart beat.

We are wired with a desire for purpose and the time to live that purpose is now. All you need to get started are four Ps: paper, a pen, a few people to help you, and a prayer:

Lord, I want to live with purpose, please guide my time of reflection and help me to discover what sits at the intersection of What Breaks My Heart and What Makes My Heart Beat. Help me to find and live into my purpose. Amen