Finding Your Identity in ChristSample

Question 3: What difference can I make? This question is centered around our sense of purpose. Our understanding of our purpose evolves throughout our lifetime. Deep down we all want to make a difference. We want our lives to matter. We certainly don’t want to live boring or pointless lives. So, where do we find purpose?

We believe that Jesus-centered purpose comes from knowing we’re invited into God’s greater story. I think that is a great question to ask within this search for purpose. What story do you want to tell? What story do you want people to tell about you? Our lives will matter the most when we realize that we are part of the ongoing story of what God has done, is doing, and will be doing in our world. It is crazy to think that the God of the universe could have unfolded his divine story without us, but he chose not to. We are not just random extras roaming aimlessly behind the scenes. As you will read in 1 Corinthians 3:5-9, it’s God’s drama, but we play a vital role.

Paul talks about his and others’ roles in God’s story. One plants and one waters, but it is God who causes the growth. Those who plant and water have different roles but one purpose. Later in 1 Corinthians 12:4-6, Paul describes the power of threading our stories together into God’s purpose. “There are different kinds of gifts, but the Same Spirit distributes them. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone, it is the same God at work.” In God’s story, everyone has a role to play.