TEACHING ON: LIFE’S PURPOSE

Teaching Presented By Mr. Kingsley Ishaku, During my TP to Gombe COCIN RCC at LCC
Road Block.
INTRODUCTION
What’s the meaning of the two terms life and purpose? The dictionary definitions of
these terms, life is for somebody to live or for something to last, while purpose is a plan, or
idea to work and achieved your aim. Thus life’s purpose is when you live your life in the plan
and work to achieved the aim which you were created for, in other words, a life of purpose,
is a life spend living in consistent with the divine plan or God’s will for your life.
It All Starts With God
INTRODUCTION
God is a supreme being, the creator of the universe, he is the source of all things, the
beginning of everything and through whom all the created things both visible and invisible
come to be and finds its purpose in him.
IT’S NOT ABOUT YOU
Since it’s God that made you and created all things, it’s not for you to decide your life
purpose, it’s left for him to decide your purpose, he is the access door through which
everything else will became a reality. Your life purpose is found in him and only him can
determined what your purpose is. You can’t discover your life purpose by what your
physical sense are telling you, but on what God has said in his words. Because your life
purpose is far greater than the things that come from within you,things like: personal
fulfillment, your peace of mind, or even your happiness, your family, your career or even
your wildest dreams and ambitions. Thes things are not even close to your purpose.
So now, for you to know the reason for your existence, you must begin with God. For you
were born by his and for his purpose. The reason why people are at loss and finds it difficult
in search for the purpose of life, is because we most at time begin at wrong starting point, of
which we begin from ourselves. We ask a self-centered questions like, what do I want to be?
What should I do with my life? What are my goals, my ambitions, my dreams for my future?
Instead of asking God who knows us more than we know ourselves, but focusing on
ourselves will never reveal our life purpose. The Bible says, “It is God who directs the lives
of his creatures; everyone’s life is in his power. “
You didn’t create yourself so there is no way you can tell yourself what you were
created for! You were made by God and for God, it’s only in God that we discover our origin,
our identity, our meaning, our destiny. Every other path leads to a dead end. The easiest
way to discover the purpose of an invention is to ask the creator of it or use the owner’s
manual, so for your life purpose ask God. For the word of God is the owner’s manual, that
reveal God's purpose for our lives.
 Conclusion
Therefore, since God is our creator, our source, focusing on him and the Bible his
word rather than focusing on ourselves, would be the key in discovering our life purpose.
What Drives Your Life?
INTRODUCTION
Dictionaries define the verb drive as “To guide, to control, or to direct .” in everyone’s
life there is a driving force behind it, what’s that thing that move you or motivated you to do
that which you are doing. People are guided, control, and directed by so many things in this
life but the question of what drives your life? Remains personal. We shall see some of these
things that drives people’s life.
EVERYONE'S LIFE IS DRIVEN BY SOMETHING
When you drive a car or ride a donkey, at that time you are, guiding, controlling, and
directing it. What could be the driving force in yopainful? You may be driving by a problem,
a presssure, or a deadline. You may be driven by a painful memory, a haunting fear, or an
unconscious belief, such are what drives people’s life. There are many circumstances,
values, and emotions that can drive your life. Five among them, that are most common are
stated here.
Many people are driven by guilt. This type people spend their lives running from regrets
and hiding their shame. Guilt-driven people are manipulated (control) by memories. They
allow their past to control their future. They often unconsciously punish themselves by
sabotaging ( deliberate damage) their own success. E.g Cain, God is not limited by your past.
E.g Moses a murderer turn into a leader and Gideon a coward turn into a courageous hero.
Many people are driven by resentment and anger. Anger itself is not necessarily bad,
but how it's directed can be the issue. For instance to hold on to hurts and never get over
them. Ephesians 4:26 says, “Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down on your
wrath. You will be more hurts when you hold resentment, than it does the person you
resent. The Bible says, “To worry yourself to death with resentment would be a foolish,
senseless thing to do.
Many people are driven by fear. Fear comes as a result of a bad experience, unrealistic
expectations, growing up in a high-control home etc. Fear-driven people often miss great
opportunities because they’re afraid to venture (project or activity) out. They play safe,
avoiding risks and trying to maintain the status quo.
Fear is a self-imposed prison that will keep you from becoming whatever God intends for
you to be. You must move against it with the weapons of faith and love.
Many people are driven by materialism. Their desire to acquire becomes the whole goal
of their lives. They think by possessing more they will be, more happy, more important, and
more secure but that’s not true. Possession can only give us a temporary happiest. Real
security can can only be found in your relationship wife God.
 Many people are driven by the need for approval. This kind of people allow the
expectations of their parents or spouses or children or teachers or friends to control their
lives. Others are driven by peer pressure, always worried by what others may think. They try
to please all people in oder to gain approval. One key to failure is to try to please everyone.
Being controlled by the opinions of others is a guaranteed way to miss God’s purpose for
your life.
The Benefits of Purpose-Driven Living
There are five great benefits of living a purpose-driven life.
Knowing your purpose gives meaning to your life. We were made to have meaning. You
can bear almost anything when younger life has meaning but nothing is bearable without it.
Without God, life has no purpose, and without purpose, life has no meaning. Without
meaning, life has no significance or hope. The greatest tragedy is on death, but life without
purpose.
Knowing your purpose simplifies your life. It make you identify what to do and what not
to do, so that it left you with the choice to do only the activities that are essential and those
things that are in line with the purpose of your life. It get easier, for you don’t get stress out
or waste your time on the unnessary things you are not suppose to do. But if you of get to
know your there will be no foundation on which you base decisions, allocate your time, and
use your resources. It make you do too much and you end up not doing what God intended
for you to do.
Knowing your purpose focuses your life. It concentrates your effort and energy on
what’s important. You became effective by being selective. People get distracted by minor
issues and so keep changing directions, jobs, relationships, churches, etec. By changing, you
are hoping that it will settled the confusion or fill the emptiness in your heart. Still it does
not solve the real problem of a lack of focus and purpose.
Knowing your purpose motivates your life. Purpose always produces passion. Nothing
energizes like a clear purpose. But without purpose passion gradually disappear. It’s usually
meaningless work, not overwork, that wears us down, saps our strength, and robs our joy.
Knowing your purpose prepares you for eternity. People spend their lives trying to
create a lastingly legacy on earth. They want to be remembered when they’re gone. Yet,
what matter most will not be what others say about your life but what God says. A wiser use
of time is to build an eternal legacy. You were not put on earth to be remembered. You
were put here to prepare for eternity. As we will one day stand before God, he will ask us
two questions: First, what did you do with my son, Jesus Christ? Second, What did you do
with what I gave you?.

CONCLUSION
 In conclusion, we have seen the most common things that drives people’s life and the
five benefits of living a purposeful life, check your life, are you driven by any of this things
discussed? This should not be the driving force in your life, worked on your life and change
the driving force of your in order to live a purpose life. Considered the benefits you will
stand to gain if you are living a purposeful life and finds out the purpose of your life, that
you may begin to live in it.
Life Is a Temporary Assignment
INTRODUCTION
The term temporary simply means “Not permanent,” or “for something to be used only
for a short time,” while assignment simply means “A task or “piece of work that somebody
is given to do.” Our life here on earth is just for a little while and God has assigned to each of
us a task to be carried out as we live before we finally depart to our eternal home in heaven.
LIFE ON EARTH IS A TEMPORARY ASSIGNMENT.
Life is described as a mist, a breath, a wisp of smoke. Bear this two truth in mind. First,
when compared with eternity, life is extremely brief. Second, earth is only a temporary
residence. This is not your permanent home or final destination. You’re just passing
through, just visiting earth. David said, “I am but a foreigner here on earth,” and Peter
explained, “If you call God your Father, live your time as temporary residents on earth. “ we
should not be like unbelievers, who think only about this life here on earth, but to know that
our citizenship is in heaven. We have our identity in eternity, and our homeland is heaven.
We should not be attached or relaxed in this world, even though the world is offering all the
enjoyable things we may like, we should not be comfortably at rest, for the fact that the
earth is not our home, that explained why we are face with difficulty, sorrow, and rejection
in this world.
God allows us to feel discontent and dissatisfaction and never get fulfilled in our
longings in order for us not to be too attached to earth. Earth is not our final home; we are
created for something much better. You will have happy moments here, but nothing
compared with what God has planned for you. The Bible says, “We fix our eyes not on what
is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”
God’s goal for our lives is not material prosperity or popular success, and our faithfulness
to God does not guarantee success in a career or even in ministry. Never focus on
temporary crowns. We can see the example in the life of Paul, John the Baptist and the rest
who served God faithfully but in this life they nothing to show for it, rather they were
persecuted and martyred..
CONCLUSION
Therefore, on realizing that our life here on earth is just for a short time and that we are
here for a temporary assignments, lets us then focus on our assignment, not on material
things, we should not be comfortably living on earth for it is not our home,we are citizens of
heaven, we should then live as alien, foreigners, visitors, travelers, here with the
consciousness of heaven, until we finally reach our eternal home in heaven.