{"id":7048,"date":"2021-04-03T18:16:53","date_gmt":"2021-04-03T08:16:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.stmark.com.au\/Blogs\/?p=7048"},"modified":"2021-04-04T17:20:39","modified_gmt":"2021-04-04T07:20:39","slug":"seeking-purpose","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.stmark.com.au\/Blogs\/seeking-purpose\/","title":{"rendered":"Seeking Purpose"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

Seeking Purpose<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Maria Hakim<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

\u201c<\/em><\/strong>For I know the plans I have for you,\u201d declares the LORD, \u201cplans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.<\/em> – Jeremiah 29:11.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the greatest struggles of humanity is finding purpose. To\nchoose the best and most fulfilling path. In doing so, we may look to our\nachievements as a method of validating our purpose. However, it\u2019s a dangerous\npath that will inevitably lead to a self-seeking cycle. An attempt to quench an\nunquenchable thirst for feeling constant pleasure. And that terrible feeling of\nemptiness and loneliness will eventually creep in. Moreover, we are more\nprecious than to give our self-worth to the \u2018treasures upon earth, <\/em>where moth\nand rust doth corrupt, and\nwhere thieves break through and steal\u2019 <\/em>(Matthew 6:19-20). The temporary things of the world we\npursue with our abilities are not reliable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0But did not Christ use the parable of the talents to encourage us to utilise our abilities? Are we not fulfilling His parable? Yes, we have every right to use them, but it is so easy to fall into the trap of prioritising these temporary joys. The amazing thing is, God knew from the very beginning that because of our nature, it would be one of our greatest struggles: \u2018Many are the plans in a person\u2019s heart, but it is the LORD\u2019s purpose that prevails\u2019<\/em> (Proverbs 19:21). So, He gave us the simplest set of instructions for the times we slowly regress to the lifestyle and trajectory the world has set out for us. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018<\/em><\/strong>For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping\nthis one command: \u201cLove your neighbour as yourself.\u201d\u2019<\/em> Galatians 5:14 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Quite simply, love in God and others may be\nthe very answer we seek. \u2018Do not merely look\nout for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others\u2019<\/em> (Philippians 2:4). \nUse your talents for service. This cannot be achieved without\nhaving love. For with love in service to others, you are working towards\nsomething great, both in your relationship with God and for yourself. Purpose\nwill weave itself in. Essentially, it is the answer to direct our earthly and\nspiritual lives. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of\ncourse, it doesn\u2019t seem right that the answer appears so simple. But think of\nit this way:  Look at the beatitudes.\nLook at the ten commandments. Pivotal principles in our faith. And think to\nyourself, would having selfless love and devotion make them easier to achieve?\nFor with love comes respect, sacrifice and clarity of mind. In contrast \u2018<\/em><\/strong>for\nwhere you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every\nevil practice\u2019<\/em> (James 3:16). There is no controversy in this. In fact,\ndemocratic socialism, a political philosophy that our secular society values,\nis all about altruism. A concept that moral goodness lies not in the devotion\nto self, but in concern for others, to which it is then society prospers.\nAlthough the term was not formulated until the 19th century, these values were\nalready ingrained in our bible.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When\nservice begins, Love grows in us. It seeds itself and is nourished in our\nactions and devotions. Before you know it, it becomes easier to serve God. More\nenticing to fulfil His Word, and to be a reflection of Christ by the purposive\ninstructions he has laid out for us. In return, God does not let this go\nunnoticed. The closer you get to Him by fulfilling his commandments, the more\nopportunity you give him to works on His plans to \u2018prosper you\u2019 and \u2018give you a\nfuture\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How\namazing would it be to contribute to bringing someone to God or to be a light\nin their lives where struggle is a constant battle? Can this not be the greatest\nworth? Even more so, the love, devotion and selflessness in our hearts will\nradiate and touch not only others but every aspect of our lives.  For Christ says, \u2018a city\nthat is set on a hill cannot be hidden.  Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it\ngives light to all who are in the house\u2019<\/em>. Think of the basket as the\nlife we weave for ourselves on earth. The more we focus on it, the more layers\nwe build. It begins covering the light underneath and harder to reflect the\nvalues and principles of Christ. As a result, it requires more effort in our\nspiritual lives. If you have more earthly blessings the basket gets thicker, so\nyou have to work harder spiritually to strengthen the light through love and\nservice. As we strengthen this light, we see a clearer path for ourselves and\nreflect a stronger light that reaches further out to others, bringing more\npeople to comfort in Christ or even in the care we show them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

God has us in this world to humbly serve others as He came to earth once to serve. Therefore, He has left us in charge of caring for one another where in service, you may \u2018unwittingly entertain angels.\u2019 This may be taken literally for the time angels have disguised themselves as humans, but also figuratively, angels can be servants of God. We may unwittingly attract, with our passive or active services, people that have the capacity to show endless dedication and service to God. We could essentially be a beacon of light to those that have dwelt in darkness. It is the love and selflessness we have for others that not only attracts more people to God but gives us worth: \u201cAnd though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge \u2026 but have not love, I am nothing\u201d<\/em> – I Corinthians 13:2. \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\ntruly lose value when we purely live for ourselves with no consideration of God\nor others. There always needs to be some practical approach and quite simply\nensure you achieve even the slightest acts of humility and service. It will\nnever be a show of weakness, it is in fact a strength that is unparalleled. For\nwhat may seem like \u2018the foolishness of God is\nwiser than men\u2019<\/em> (1 Corinthians 1:25).\nIn essence, what may seem like vulnerability and weakness to the world is the\nwisdom of God. It is the ability to resist all show of pride that is admirable.\nGod has given you talents, and it is your capacity to humbly apply your talents\nto the benefit of others that reaps the greatest reward. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of\nthe most important principles I have learnt it is that life begins to lose\nvalue and purpose when you purely live for yourself and that is an easy and\ngradual process to fall victim to. That\u2019s why you should consistently live for\nothers, even in the smallest actions. It is then that service gradually loosens\nyou from the values of a world that convinces you that joy and self-worth is\ngiven purely by enjoyment and self-achievement. They amplify and inflate a\nportion that should be enjoyed in small doses to the point where it masks any\nconcern for others and the true purpose God has given you. Then eventually\nyou\u2019re caught in the endless current of finding your purpose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur\nhearts were created for God, and so they remain restless until they rest in\nHim.\u201d As St Augustine beautifully puts it, we will always remain restless until\nwe fulfil God\u2019s purpose. One biblical character that desired to rest in God was\nDavid, \u201ca man after God\u2019s own heart\u201d. If like David we desire to find purpose,\nit is to seek God\u2019s heart and that it to pursue he\u2019s greatest commandment \u2013 service to one\nanother.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To conclude, one important thing to note is\nChrist\u2019s response to his disciples in Matthew 25. This also happens to be\nstraight after His parable of the talents. The disciples ask Christ, \u2018Lord,\nwhen did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and\ngive You drink?\u2026And\nthe King will answer \u2026 \u2018Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you\ndid it to one of the least of these My brethren, you\ndid it to Me.\u2019<\/em> (Matthew 25:35-40). God\u2019s purpose can remedy the emptiness and lack of\nself-worth we will always attempt to fill in validating ourselves.  If we persist in our love for God and others and his simple commandment, we will\nreap the most benefits from our lives. We not only achieve His good\npurpose but the greatest and most fulfilling purpose we can have.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Seeking Purpose By Maria Hakim \u201cFor I know the plans I have for you,\u201d declares the LORD, \u201cplans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. – Jeremiah 29:11. One of the greatest struggles of humanity is finding purpose. To choose the best and most fulfilling path. … Continue reading “Seeking Purpose”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":7049,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7048","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.stmark.com.au\/Blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7048","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.stmark.com.au\/Blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.stmark.com.au\/Blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.stmark.com.au\/Blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.stmark.com.au\/Blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7048"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.stmark.com.au\/Blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7048\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7051,"href":"http:\/\/www.stmark.com.au\/Blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7048\/revisions\/7051"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.stmark.com.au\/Blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7049"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.stmark.com.au\/Blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7048"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.stmark.com.au\/Blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7048"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.stmark.com.au\/Blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7048"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}