Day Five: How Your Identity Informs Your Purpose
Today is the last day of our mini-course.
These lessons have been sequential, with each session building on the previous one.
Here is the main point of this final
lesson:
Understanding your identity is essential because your identity informs the purpose of your life.
That is… there is a link between your identity and purpose.
This is an important point.
It addresses the hunger for meaning so many people are searching for
today.
And it gets right at the overall objective of this course…
Which is to help you go from embracing your God-given identity to living out His purpose for you to the fullest.
Let’s unpack this a bit.
God’s Design From The
Start
In the beginning God created human beings with a specific design in mind.
The primary feature of this design is that we are made in God’s image.
The benefit of this feature is that we have the capacity to relate to God, love others, create, plan and accomplish.
This is at the heart of what it means to be human.
As mentioned previously, the basis of our identity lies here.
And God created us with this identity for a reason.
Our Shared Purpose
God has given us the identity He has so we
would accomplish a purpose.
And that purpose is to rule and develop the world with Him.
God made this explicit in the Garden of Eden when He commanded Adam to cultivate the garden and keep it (Gen. 2:15).
But the garden was just the starting point.
God’s
plan has always been to gardenize the whole world, as humanity is faithful to "be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth and subdue it" (Gen. 1:28).
This is still God's intent for us--even with the fall of mankind,
And as we abide in the second Adam, Jesus Christ, we are to pursue this mandate together.
This is God’s common purpose
for mankind.
Your Particular Purpose
It’s out of this shared purpose that you find your own purpose in life.
As an image-bearer of God, you have been commissioned to partake in His plan to bring His rule to the earth.
But this is not something you do
all on your own.
It’s something you are a part of, as you obey God in using your gifts amidst the opportunities He gives you.
Fulfilling your part in His plan requires a sense of calling... vision... and faith.
And this is what brings meaning and purpose to us all…
As we
recognize we each have a role to play in God’s kingdom.
And, this is true of you... no matter who you are.
To sum it up, the connection between your identity and purpose looks like this:
God-Given Identity > Humanity’s Shared Mission > Your Specific Purpose
Let me conclude by noting something crucial…
It is one thing to understand this in your head.
But what counts is living it out in your daily life.
Because this is the only way to fulfill the purpose God has had for you from the beginning.
This takes a
constant renewal of the mind…
AND a commitment to a living, obedient faith.
If you have any questions or comments about the course, just reply to this email.
For detailed help with living out your God-given identity, get my book The Identity Advantage.
David Bostrom
P.S. If you would like to share this mini-course with a friend, send them here: Identity Email Course
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