Chapter 5 Seeing Life from God's View

"Life is all about," is probably one of the most frequented quotes people retort too when speaking about the purpose of life. I have heard many versions and contortions of the quote, such as "life is all about money," or "life is all about family," or "life is all about chilling." They all have relative validity for each person, which often reflects that person’s specific personality. As an example, a fraternity member at UCSB may often quote, "life is all about partying," whereas Donald Trump may say, "life is all about money." It all depends on the person. Moreover, whatever they attach to the end of that quote often is a reflection of his or her personality, or a reaction to their specific situation at the given moment.

For me, life was about many things, from frivolous materialism to professional careers. However, as I have spiritually matured, I have begun to realize the vast intricacy God has molded my life to be. "Long before you were conceived by your parents, you were conceived in the mind of God." This quote reverberates with purpose now, as I fully accept how God created me with a specific reason. My life now has taken shape and I see how everything was interwoven with purpose. I am being set-up with everyday experiences to prepare me for a bigger and more important service for God. So how do I see my life? My life metaphor is that God is constantly challenging me, so I can grow in character, which will in effect prepare for greater works that I cannot wait to fulfill. However, I disagree with the forcefulness that Warren states, "Life on earth is a Test." I would rather paraphrase with, "Life is a serious of challenges to build our character, for the purpose of shaping us into the Christians that God wishes for each in everyone of us."

Chapter 2: I am not an accident

This chapter symbolizes the fact that humans are not accidents in God's eye. Warren's comment about illegitimate parents is well said.

While there are illegitimate parents, there are no illegitimate children. Many children are unplanned by their parents, but they are not unplanned by God.

This quotation reminded me of a Simpsons episode, where Bart and Homer where fighting and Homer bluntly says to Bart. "You were an accident... an accident..." The Simpsons puts humor into the context of Bart's birth before Homer and Marge's wedding, however throughout the years the cartoon does emphasize the love of Homer and Marge with regards to their children. And FYI, the Simpsons is very blunt about their Christian faith. They are the only television "family" who go to church every Sunday. I am referencing the Simpsons because of the love that they show as a family. This fits in well with Warren's message that God is love. Warren mentions that God does not have love. But literally God is love. Some may ask, what is love? Love is simply "a desire for another's good." So God desires a good for each and everyone of us. God does not desire bad things for us, if he did I would tell Him to stop drinking the "haterade". Warren sums up the chapter so well with the following

We discover that meaning and purpose only when we make God the reference point of our lives.

This is really deep if we step back and think about a purpose. The purpose in our lives is the realization that God is the "the desire for another's good" and that a human's purpose is to put focus on God.

Chapter 1: Be God centric not self centric

I read PDL (Purpose Driven Life) about a year and a half ago. It's a good book on daily Christian living and what that all really means. We are reading it for our bible study. What I really love about the first chapter is the bold claim that our lives is not meant to be controlled by us. It is God's purpose and his will in our lives and never our own self-determinend will or purpose. Here is the bold quotation "It is God who directs the lives of his creatures; everyone's life in his power"

God wills us to wake up in the morning. God wills us to go to work. God wills us to safely drive home. God wills us to write blogs about Purpose Driven Life. God wills everything in our lives from the trivial daily mundane actions to the glorious accomplishments all of it comes through Him.

So if God wills everything in our lives, what do we do for God? This leads to question to consider which states,

... how can I remind myself that life is really about living for God, not myself?

Humans today are bombarded with so many distractions to have stuff, to be influenced by what others say what is cool or not cool, what is "hot" or "not hot", to be marketed to as a consumer rather than as a fellow human being with a mind. It is a profound question to step back and think, how can I stop thinking about myself for once and start thinking about God and his suffering people.

Chapter 1 It All Starts With God

Rick Warren immediately challenges us on the central issue, "it's not about me." Living in a selfish, egotistical, and survival of the fittest society, it's common to focus on how we can self-improve ourselves and get ahead in our society. At the very beginning, Warren flips our perspective when he explains "life is about letting God use you for his purposes, not your using him for your own purpose." I found this passage relevant to our discussion last week. Many people often mistake prayer as a "total request live" line, where we demand answers on questions that God may not want to reveal to us at the moment.

I find chapter one as not revolutionary to me. However, it ironically seems to be one of the hardest to practice and implement. It makes sense to me that we were made for God and for God. Unfortunately, I fail to fulfill that knowledge when I am consumed with the everyday hassles and stresses of life. In defense, I fully accept this concept and at times demonstrate passion and dedication towards it. I only wish I can completely take that leap of faith someday. Acknowledgement is the beginning...complete practice is the end.

I want to end with a wonderful saying from the Bible, "Self-help is no help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way, my way, to finding yourself, your true self."

Welcome to Purpose Driven Lives blog.

Well for our bible study/small group we have decided to read Rick Warren's famous Christian book entitled Purpose Driven Life. This blog's purpose is to document what our thoughts and feelings are as a group while we are reading the book. It is a good medium to communicate these ideas to everyone in the group. Please feel free to add comments at any time.

Ciao and God Bless,
Jonathan