Lexi Hutchison

Theology

August 31, 2021

Purpose

Careful and sustained thinking about religious beliefs and practices is important

because religion gives people purpose and gives meaning to their lives. Religion beliefs

and practices can strengthen many aspects of someone’s life. It can impact their

health, learning, self-esteem, and their empathy towards others. Religion is sometimes

all people live for. Purpose can seem like a complex idea or a goal that needs to be

achieved but purpose does not have to be this at all. Religious beliefs and practices are

also important because those create foundations to discover inner morals and ethics

and determine what someone wants to believe in.

Purpose is defined as “the reason for which something is done or created or for

which something exists”. Purpose does not have to be saving the world from global

warming or becoming the biggest charity donor in the world. Someone’s purpose may

be becoming someone’s best friend or helping people, whether that be physically

helping them, like a nurse, or mentally helping them, like talking to them about their

problems. Some people use religion to find that purpose. Religion can open doors to

new perspectives and show people different paths. Religious beliefs and practices can

guide people who are lost onto the right path and show them a different outlook on their

current situation. Religion can be the beginning of someone’s new life. Purpose and

religion can go hand in hand. Purpose can be found by practicing a religion or religion

can be someone’s purpose. This connection creates importance.

 Careful and sustainable thinking about religious beliefs and practices is also

important because it creates morals, ethics, and helps determine what people are going

to stand for. Just like purpose, morals and ethics have an impact on almost all aspects

of life. They help decide what career path to take, what to wear everyday, and how to

view or treat others. Morals are defined as “a lesson, especially one concerning what is

right or prudent, that can be derived from a story, a piece of information, or an

experience.” People develop their morals from the bible and other religious literature.

Ethics are defined as “a set of moral principles, especially ones relating to or affirming a

specified group, field, or form of conduct.” Morals are derived from biblical stories, and

ethics are formed from those morals. Ethics are the building blocks to ultimately

deciding what to stand for. They create an outline or a boundary that shapes a person’s

life and how they want to live that life. Purpose, morals, ethics, and deciding what to

stand for all come together to create a life worth living and that is what is important in

the end.