40 Days of Purpose: Balancing Life’s Purposes

Life can be a little crazy sometimes and we are easily distracted from the purposes God gave us. God wants us to lead balanced lives focused on fulfilling His purposes.

KEY VERSE

“Live life with a due sense of responsibility, not as those who do not know the meaning of life but as those who do.” Ephesians 5:15 PH

These purposes are summed up by the Great Commandment and the Great Commission. We love God through worship and show love to His people through fellowship and ministry, maturing in our faith through discipleship and sharing the good news by evangelism.

It’s not easy to keep these purposes balanced but it’s important to try. There are four habits to develop if we want to keep our purposes balanced.

TALKING WITH A SPIRITUAL PARTNER OR SMALL GROUP

We learn best in community, we sharpen each other as iron sharpens iron (Proverbs 27:17). It’s in community that we discover and develop the skills we need to fulfil our purposes and where we receive accountability.

If not for the accountability and support, we receive in community it would be much harder to fulfil our purposes and keep them balanced. A spiritual partner or small group can encourage us and pray over us so we can succeed in our purposes.

“Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.” 1 Thessalonians 5:11 NIV

GIVE YOURSELF A SPIRITUAL CHECK-UP

Evaluation helps us determine how balanced we are (Lamentations 3:40, 1 Corinthians 11:28, 2 Corinthians 13:5, Galatians 6:4). We need to check ourselves for worship, fellowship, growth in character, ministry and mission. If we are not balanced in these things or doing them at all we must make sure that we begin to do so.

JOURNAL PROGRESS

When we write something down, we tend to remember it better than if we don’t. It’s good to make a habit of recording our life lessons and how we’ve progressed so we can review it regularly and not forget. This helps us recognise when our purposes are not balanced.

Scripture is filled with the lessons and insights of others. Proverbs is filled with wisdom and insights from Solomon and others, and the Psalms have their lessons too. We should follow the example of David and write about our doubts, fears and struggles along with the good things.

Writing helps us process our thoughts and can provide clarity. We may also hear God better by clearing our minds onto paper.

Our testimony is revealed in our writing, more vulnerable and clearer than we might speak it. Our testimony is our witness to current and future generations so we should preserve it in writing. We may help more people this way.

“This will be written for a later generation, and a people who have not yet been created will praise the Lord.” Psalms 102:18 CSB

Photo by Andrea Piacquadio on Pexels.com

PASS ON WHAT YOU KNOW TO OTHERS

God blesses those who bless others. He helps those who help and provides more knowledge to those who share their knowledge (Proverbs 11:25).

Passing on knowledge does not merely help us fulfil our purposes, it is a responsibility. We have a duty to share the gospel truth with unbelievers and to help those who are in the early stages of their faith journey. God expects us to help others and to pass on our knowledge out of love. God can use this process of teaching to teach us lessons too.

Everything we do is for His glory and the expansion of His kingdom. God does everything with intention so His desire for us to lead balanced lives and to balance His purposes is also intentional.

On this earth the main intention God has for us is to know and love Him more and to share the good news with others so that they can know and love Him too. We share His message so others can be saved and share it too. This is done in the hope that everyone who hears may repent and come to God and each of our purposes play a role in fulfilling this which is why we must do our best to lead balanced lives and keep working towards fulfilling our purposes.

If you want to follow through these 40 days of purpose, subscribe to the mailing list or follow me on social media.