Keeping it Real
Life is Short-Live on Purpose
1 Peter 4:7-11 7 The end of all things is near. Therefore be clear minded and self-controlled so that you can pray. 8 Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. 9 Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. 10 Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms. 11 If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.
Recognizing life is short, let us commit to living on purpose in our personal lives, our spiritual lives and in our relational lives.
a. Personal Life
God has called us to be clear-minded and self-controlled. It’s time to dial down the drama and emotion and ask God to help us be led by truth rather than feelings. Until we gain God’s perspective on any situation, how we feel about it really has little to do with how we should respond to it. Allow God’s plans for your life to spur you on to discipline and goal setting. Let nothing keep you from the abundant life God promises (John 10:10).
b. Spiritual Life
Peter reminds us that if we are going to live on purpose we are going to have to live prayerfully (Vs. 7) He also says that to live with purpose we need to rely on the power of God’s strength (Vs. 11) and not our own. God will infuse His power into the life of anyone who is committed to His purpose!
c. Relational Life
God has put you here not just to become someone, but to impact someone. Verses 8 and 9 tell us we are here to love and serve others. As we love one another and serve one another through those relationships God’s grace flows through us into the lives of those we seek to touch (Vs. 10). Part of our life’s purpose involves making a difference in the lives of others through our relationships. As a wise man once said, “There can be no effect without a cause.” Don’t you want your life to count? Don’t you want your life to have an impact? Don’t you want to make a difference in the world for the Kingdom of God?
May God help each one of us find our purpose by living on purpose personally, spiritually, and relationally.
Pastor Melissa
