Purpose Driven Life summary

Introduction
A 40 day guide designed for finding one’s purpose in life. “What on Earth am I here for?” The author answers this question as he guides us through the journey of a purpose driven life in Christ.
That choice of 40 days and not 7 or 14 is due to the fact that in life’s manual (the Bible) God places a lot of emphasis on this number 40, when transforming individuals’ life. Day by day we go deeper and deeper into finding each purpose God has pre-destined in our lives and we execute actions for fulfillment of these.
One key factor to note is, the author stresses that while reading this book, you should have one or more friends to discuss what knowledge was gained upon the completion of each chapter. We sign our covenant, committing ourselves to a total transformation in 40 days and we embark on this journey.
There are six key factors we must understand and accept before we go deeper into the essence of the Purpose Driven Life.
Everything begins with God: - It is only through God and his son Jesus Christ, we find purpose in life. Being self-centered only keeps us from the truth. How can the Created find purpose unless it looks to the Creator? The Bible says, “It is God who directs the lives of his creatures; everyone’s life is in his power.” We are limited but God is not.
You Are Not an Accident: - Before we were even a thought to our parents, God knew our purpose. It is not by chance we are here. Human error and sin were taken into account in our creation. As scientist search deeper and deeper to find out why we are here, they discover that everything has been created for a reason.
With purpose, we do not fear, focus on material things, or seek approval from everyone. God’s purpose radiates in us and eliminates these things. As we live life in serving God we must ask ourselves, what can be done to fulfill God’s purpose? The Bible stats’ “Don’t live carelessly, unthinkably. Make sure you understand what the master wants.” Build purpose and we build passion as we prepare for eternity.
Seeing Life from God’s View :- We begin truly living when we cast away conventional wisdom and replace it with God’s teachings. God reminds us of this by saying, “Do not conform yourselves to the standards of this world but let God transform you inwardly by a complete change of your mind. Then you will be able to know the will of God.”
Sometimes we do not feel God’s presence around so we look to participate in wrong doing. It is times like these God has pulled away from us to test us. We are reminded in his word that life is a test and many of the greatest prophets of God were tested in order to develop character. Though we are tested many times, God never gives us more than we can manage.
Trust in God is essential, for he has entrusted to us all he has created on earth and therefore expects a certain standard from us.
Life is a Temporary Assignment: - Life on earth is a shadow compared to that of eternity which God promises us. We are only here for a short time so we should praise God with every last breath. It is better to pursue God than riches because God will enlighten us on what he has for us.
Things become more meaningful when we live for God and direct our paths in his way. The Bible says, “So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” Corinthians 4:8
The Reason for Everything: - It’s all for him. Everything made on this Earth has been created with purpose to give God glory. God’s glory is omnipotent. The Bible says “The heavens declare the glory of God.”
Through Jesus Christ we can understand the glory of God, one of grace and truth. We are not meant to add anything to God’s glory but instead we are to acknowledge and live for it. Only two things in this entire world fail to give God the glory, fallen angels (demons) and us (people). Anything that does not give glory unto God is sin. Directing our life to God’s wishes is the biggest achievement we can accomplish in life.
If we desire to bring glory to God, we must listen to him. Everything we do must be according to his purpose for us. By loving other believers, becoming like Christ, serving others with our gifts, and telling others about him we bring glory. In all decisions God must be at the center.

Purpose 1

God has created us to bring pleasure to him. Understanding this and accepting it as truth brings meaning to life. The Bible says, “Because of his love, God had already decided that through Jesus Christ he would make us his children-this was his pleasure and purpose.”
Only because we have been made in the image of God, we are able to experience pleasure and delivering this pleasure to God is known as “worship”. The Bible says, “The Lord is pleased only with those who worship him and trust his love.”
Worship is a lifestyle, a way of living for God. It is beyond music, it is all that we do which is pleasing in the eyes of our creator. Wholehearted steadfast worship is for the glory and satisfaction of God. He is not interested in worship that you are not passionately exercising. Our God says “These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with lips but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is made up only of rules taught by men.” God is not interested in “halfway” worship. He wants all of our worship. All of our self-expression in worship that has accuracy, authenticity, thoughtfulness and practicality.
Loving God unconditionally brings great joy to his heart. The Bible says, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with your entire mind. This is the first and greatest commandment.” When God was displeased because the people of the world were too captivated in loving themselves and the things of the world He came to Noah and informed him he is going to destroy the world by water to start a new civilization. Noah made God smile because he trusted in the words of God with all his heart. God commanded Noah to build an ark and so Noah did without question. This emphasized obedience and this brought joy to God. This must be an example to us and our decisions we make in life, ensuring we put God first in everything.
Three barriers block us from totally surrendering to God, fear pride and confusion. Understanding God’s love for us helps overcome this. As we get closer to him we understanding our limitations and ask him to take charge.
The death of Jesus Christ on the cross connected His Father directly to us. We are now friends of God and able to have a direct communication with him unlike the people over the earlier days. Knowing that such power is in our possession we should use it to communicate with God all times no matter where we are. Through daily mediation, reading and reciting verses from the book of God we get closer to the Creator.
The closer we wish to get the God the more open hearted we must be. Not concealing our feeling but instead trusting God and performing whatever task he has planned for us. Friendship with God last throughout eternity.
Sometimes in life we may feel like God is no way around but God is real despite what feelings may come upon us. A weakness of many Christians is to connect an emotional feeling to the presence of God, therefore when this emotional feeling is inexistent they perceive God has abandoned them and lose trust in him. Contrary to their feeling, this is the best time to trust in God to pull you through whatever the situation being faced. This Bible verse reminds us of his promise to us, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”
It is important to tell God exactly how we feel and no matter the situation hang on to his unchanging character. Whatsoever we ask shall be given, but in God’s timing not ours. God knows the perfect timing we need his assistance and hence we should place all trust in his time of delivery. Once too many, we as Christians want things in the “now” moment and never get chance to experience the bigger picture of life that God was planning for us. Our God has fulfilled many promises and will continue to, as we keep him in our heart and soul meditating on him day and night.

Purpose 2

We have been formed for God’s family, though it is not a need by God but a desire. When we place faith in Christ we become a child of God and we receive “brothers” and “sisters” of God. The brothers and sisters are the believers of God. The Bible says “You are all children of God through faith in Jesus.”
Through baptism we join God’s family as Christians. This means we should let our voice be heard and the nations know that we live for God. Our spiritual family shares more meaning than our physical family because our spiritual family last for eternity. When we all die in flesh we are connected to God throughout eternity after being judged. Like Christ, the pain, suffering and death become things of the past and we are rewarded positions as we share in Christ’s glory.
Day by day as we live we must aspire to know love. God is love and he wants us to learn how to love. When we know love, we know God. It is important to love everyone but extra attention must be placed in our love to fellow believers. Jesus says, “Your strong love to each other will prove you are my disciples.” In fellowship with our brothers and sisters we learn three truths of life. Life without love is worthless. Jesus said, “You must love the Lord your God with all your heart.” This is the first and greatest commandment. Nothing must separate us from the love of God. Love will last forever. God says, “These three things continue forever, faith, hope and love. And the greatest of these is love.” Material possessions may with but love lasts forever.
The essence of love is not what we think or do, or provide for others, but how much of ourselves we give them .Special attention must be paid to the amount of time we devote to something because our devotion of time explains our love for it. Whenever we give our time we make a sacrifice and sacrifice is the root of love.
Being in God’s family means we are all connected to each other as believers of Christ. As members we all have important tasks. A body cannot function 100% without its eyes, nose or mouth. We must see ourselves as one of these body parts when being in Gods family because it helps us to understand how much of a responsibility the rest of the body has. We have been given a gift by our father to glorify him and accomplish his purpose. Being in a group of like-minded believers help us understand things even more. We cannot find a perfect church, otherwise they would have no use for us, but instead we can work with the imperfections of the church.
It takes commitment to cultivate a community. Honesty, to speak the truth at times most difficult, humility, to put aside self- importance and Pride to bring us closer to God. As we cultivate a community we must make sure to restore past relationships and understand the value of this. These relationships show the unbelievers how life is for us. For God’s blessings to fall on us we must live in peace with our believers and non -believers.
Life is meant to be shared among our Christian brothers and sisters through fellowship. Fellowship signifies a small group of believers experiencing life in all its capacities together. In committed fellowship people experience authenticity, sympathy and mercy. When there is broken fellowship among us we must aspire restore our relationship. There are key steps in resolving broken fellowship. We ought to tell God our feelings toward the problem before talking to the person, be a peacemaker, take the initiative casting away pride, attack the problem, not the person and sympathize with their feelings.
As a family of God we must protect the church. For God wishes oneness and harmony with among his servants. A perfect representation the unity he desires for us is represented by the Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit completely unified as one. To achieve this unity we must focus on commonalities and solve minimize the differences. As we show love for one another and fulfill God’s purpose we become more united. Thinking realistically in our expectations but striving for the best we remove the idea of a perfect church and are able to address the imperfections which lead us to greater forms of unity. We must lift up each other in everything thing we do and refrain from belittling them or chastising them for what they are unable to accomplish. If there is a problem among brethren we must go directly to the person and speak about it, if it cannot be resolved then return with one or two people and only if it is still unable to be resolved go to the Church. The Pastors and Leaders have been chosen by God and hence we must support them in order to protect and promote the unity of the Church.

Purpose 3

Throughout purpose 3 it is explained to us how each and everyone was created by God to be like his son, Jesus. This is our destiny and a purpose of our life. In this purpose it is expressed that we are all made in God's image, being one of the greater gifts which was given to us. Some of the aspects which make us an image of God is that we are, intellectual, relational, and we have moral consciousness. We are intellectual allowing us to think and reason as well as solve problems, relational in which we can give and receive real love. We are also moral consciousness and can differentiate right from wrong. God wants all his children to bare his image and likeness; this may be summarized in the saying "like father like son".
However because we are made in his image doesn't mean that we will become God or become a god. Those are simply temptations put there to guide us in the wrong direction away from God’s purpose for our life. When we try to control our circumstances, the people around us and our future these are when the desire to become god is revealed.
Although we all are made with the same image it doesn't take away from our uniqueness, we are not meant to become clones. These qualities are simply to transform our character and not our personality.
Growing older doesn't necessarily mean that you grew up. As we live our life it is God's goal for us to mature and develop as an individual and also develop the characteristics of Jesus. The reason for spiritual infancy is not because of a physical barrier but lack of intent to grow.
Like all other developments of ourselves spiritual growth isn't automatic, it takes commitment and we must want to grow and make the effort to grow. Commitments help shape your life into the one you want and they will define who you are, whether in a good or bad way. Every choice we make has eternal consequences; we must ensure we think wisely of these consequences before taking action.
In order to grow we must be committed to leaving and removing anything that may be holding us back from growth. The book states that there are two parts of spiritual growth these are, “work out" and "work in". The "work out" is our responsibility and the "work in" is God's role in our growth.
In order to change our life we must first change the way we think because this will change the way we act, allowing growth. The Bible says, “Change always starts first in your mind.” The reason for this is because the way we think affects the way we feel and that influences our actions which will affect our life daily.
In the book it speaks of the two halves of change, the first is mental shift. This includes the stopping of immature thoughts, those which are self- centered and self- seeking. As stated in the Bible that selfish thinking is the source of sinful behavior it is necessary for this mind set to end if growth is to occur.
The second half is, thinking like Jesus is the start of mature thoughts. Thinking like Jesus is when we focus on others and on what real love is. Spiritual maturity is not simply measure in the number of biblical information you know and understand. Thinking of others and not just our- selves is the heart of Christlikeness and the best portray of spiritual growth.
Spiritual growth is the process of replacing lies with the truth, the Bible has become like a compass that can be relied on for direction and to be heard when making wise decisions. Nowadays there are many influences that affect our final decision such as, culture, tradition, reason and emotions. However the one that should be taken above all others is the Bible.
In other to be fully transformed its not enough to just believe in the bible but we must receive it , read it, research it, remember it and reflect on it, only then will we truly be transformed.
Every day we encounter different circumstances that require us to react differently, these circumstances exist to develop our character and God depends on them to do so. Life is one big series of problems and every time we solve one it feels as though another has already taken its place, however none of them are put there to stop us, rather they are there to help us develop more and more.
During the days that we feel alone and in our darkest moments is when our most honest prayers are said because it is when we lack energy for superficial prayers. When we are in pain we learn things from God that we couldn’t learn any other way. The problems that we encounter force us to look to God and trust in him.
Just as different circumstance arise there are also temptations thrown in our lives, each temptation is the opportunity to do good. While it is Satan's primary goal for us to do wrong, it is God who wants us to use that temptation to develop ourselves.
A very important statement said in this book is “God develops the fruit of the spirit in your life by allowing you to experience circumstances in which you’re tempted to express the exact opposite quality.” The only way we can learn to love is by having unloving people in our lives showing us the true value of love. We can only appreciate something good when we experience life without it.
There are 4 steps that Satan uses to guide us into temptation these being the same rules that he used on both Adam and Eve. It starts off with him identifying the desires within us, whether it’s a good or bad. Secondly, create doubt in God's word about the sin of the temptation. This is followed by deception by pulling us into his web of lies; the last and final step is the disobedience we take by listening to him. By understanding how temptation works it is helpful in overcoming it.
We overcome temptation, not by fighting it but by refocusing our attention elsewhere. Temptation always starts by capturing your attention and then proceeds to arouse your emotions which will influence your behavior.
Time is crucial to spiritual growth like physical growth it doesn't happen overnight. Each and every day we are learning more about ourselves and about God and the destiny he has for us. In order to learn new things we must first unlearn things that are holding us back, one step at a time.

Purpose 4
God wishes of us to be of service to him. This is the concept of “ministry”. We are connected to a church so that serving God is more defined. Just as Jesus came to serve so should we now.
Our body composition was specifically created by God to fulfill our purpose. With every day we serve being linked to God‘s plan for our lives. For every assignment given by God to believers, we have been equipped with spiritual gifts to deal with it. These gifts were not given to compare with others but to complete our assigned tasks. Whatsoever we are passionate about, we must put it to use for God. This passion can be selected among what we do when we have great joy in performing the task irrespective of rewards.
All our abilities have been given by God. When people commit sin they are misusing these abilities. These abilities were specifically chosen in line with the tasks. We have all been created with variety, no one being greater or more favored. Granted this, we are all to work together for God’s glory. That specific personality we have been given, when used will uplift us.
All our experiences thus far have shaped the individual we are today, be it family, educational, vocational, spiritual, ministry, painful. The painful experiences shape us the most. The Bible says “He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others.” When others are troubled we will be able to give them the same comfort our Creator has given us. We must first accept and share these experiences in order to eliminate the pain caused and come up with a solution. Understanding this will grant us the ability to help those that have seen the same troubles.
God deserves our best. He wants us to focus on the abilities we have. The Bible says, “Don’t act thoughtfully, but try to find out and do whatever the Lord wants you to.” It is important not to confuse gifts of maturity with God given gifts.
In seeking our gifts we need to take opportunities as they come our way. Question our self and finding our deepest thoughts is also another way of discovery. As we go through experiences in life, taking notes of all our experiences also help us in discovering our God given gifts. Sometimes we deny the role God has given us but we ought to accept and focus on the ministry God has given to us being fully aware of our limitations and learning where our specialties exist. Among all else, once we have discovered God given skills we must apply them or they will wither away.
God is not interested in how many people you can get to serve you but instead how much you can serve him. Our primary shape should be in the area of our specialty but secondary shape, wherever we are needed currently. It is necessary to have a ‘servant’s heart’, which allows us to always be there to fulfill God’s duties no matter the time or hour.
Eliminating Procrastination and helping whenever possible are what God expects of his servants. We do not have to be perfect in our duty but strive for perfection. Continuous and steadfast wins the race, serving with humility and not for the soul purpose of impressing others for self -praise.
It is not what we do but ‘why’. It is the ‘why’ that interest God. Being servants of God means many things. We ought to think of serving others more than ourselves refraining from self- centeredness. We must understand that no man can serve two masters, meaning our focus must be on God in all that we do and for the magnifying of God. As servants we must be Kingdom builders. Being servants of God specifies the ability to focus on the task ahead and nothing else, not being distracted by what the other believers are doing. The Bible says “Who are you to criticize someone else’s servant? The Lord will determine whether his servant has been successful.” Our self -image must be rested in Christ and we must know that ‘ministry’ is an opportunity and not an obligation.
To be a servant of God one does not have to be strong. God purposefully chooses the weak to show how great he is, to change them into someone strong. Being weak we must accept our imperfections. This allows us to know that we have many things yet to complete in our lives and keeps us humble. It also allows God to work in us showing others who may feel that they are weak, great hope. When they see God using us despite our shortcomings, they understand that God can use them also and it gives faith.

Purpose 5
We have a mission from God to teach about Him and His mighty works. The Bible says, “We have been sent to speak for Christ.” Being Christians, means we are responsible for teaching the non-believers who Christ is and what he has done for us. As we go by our daily lives we represent Christ in our thoughts and actions. We must understand that the works of our mission lasts forever whereas the works of this world will fade away. Once we know this is truth and accepts it whole heartedly we will be able to give our uttermost. Our commission is linked to God’s conclusion of the world.
The author explains that in his father’s last days. There was one key statement is father kept making. “Gotta save one more for Jesus” “Gotta save one more for Jesus.” This motivated the author to move forward in that direction and he strongly advices us to do the same. Being a vessel to deliver the word of God to many of the nationals is a great privilege and we should be overjoyed to be servants of God.
In performing our mission God has given us his servants a life message to share. We are his channel to the world. By giving our testimonies, life lessons, godly passions and good news, we are able to show the world what a marvelous God we serve.
These testimonies explain what Christ has brought us through amidst the challenges. Making a list of these testimonies will greatly help when we have to give testimonies to others.
Our life lessons are all that we have been thought by God. Sharing life lessons help us to mature quickly. Our passions Signifies whatever specialty we have been given by God. The good news signifies the word of God and what he has done for us.
We have learned that God wants us to be a member of his family, an example of his character, a magnifier of his glory, a minister of his ever forgiving love, and a messenger of the good news. These are our purposes of life.
We are granted two choices in life, become a world class Christian or a worldly Christian. Better the former than the latter. The worldly Christian focuses on more self-centeredness; whereas the world class Christian focuses on accomplishing the mission they have been assigned. Their mindset focusses on things on global scale. When they pray, it encompasses the entire world and not just their country. They focus not only on the things seen but also the unseen.
It is imperative to place balance in our five purposes of life God has given us. Upon completion of the book the author strongly advices, in order to benefit greatly from the material, it is wise to form a Bible study group. Go through the scriptures and teachings presented in the Purpose Driven Life. He further explains that the key to maintaining a balance is routinely performing self- analysis, writing down how you have progressed thus far. It is also necessary to share this new found knowledge of your purpose in life.
Most individuals struggle with three basic questions of life. “Who am I?” “Do I matter”, “What is my purpose.” Encompassing God’s five purposes in one’s life answers all three.
We must now embark on a journey of self- sacrifice to accomplish Jesus’ wishes. As we eliminate self-centeredness our five purposes come to life more and more.
To keep on track and in line with God’s purpose we should develop a purpose statement for our life, in which we review regularly. Purpose statement is different to goals. Purpose statement is long term where as a goal is short term. Our purpose statement must answer these questions in detail, “What is God’s Purpose for my life? What direction should I go with my life? What is most important to me in which God would support? What are my roles in life? How do I reflect the image of God in my daily life? Where will my knowledge of God go?”
We must also have a shorter purpose statement for our lives and it must be written in a way that motivates and inspires us. These things must then be recited daily so that they become part of us and stay in our mind. Some examples of these may be:
“My life purpose is to mature in God’s image and likeness.”
“My purpose is to be a member of Christ’s family and a messenger of his word.
We must give serve God in our generation. Do what needs to be done for our eternal God.

Conclusion
We have lived life thus far searching for a way to make ourselves happy, this approach to life directed our attention to self-centeredness and self-praise. Day after day we chase material possessions and question God as to why we are not happy. Life seems so clueless at times and we wonder why we are here for and what our purpose is in this life time. In answering this we can either look within ourselves, which will be hopeless, we can look to the world, which will be hopeless too, or we can look to our Creator since we are the Created.
The Purpose Driven Life explains God’s purpose in our lives and why we have been created. We have been created for God’s pleasure; this is the first purpose the author explained for us. Delivering that pleasure to God is called worship. The way we know ‘worship’ to be is much too limited for the worship our God expects of us. God wants us to worship him in every moment and opportunity granted and not just when we go to church.
God has also created us to join his family; this is the second purpose we have been created for. This family consists of the believers of Christ who have become believers through baptism.
Our third purpose is to become like Christ. The author explains we must let the life of Christ be our guide in our journey towards God as we let the Father, Son and Holy Spirit work in us.
Our fourth purpose is we were shaped for serving God. This is the concept of ‘ministry’ in which we connect with believers and non- believers.
Our fifth purpose is to complete God’s mission. This mission is to teach the world, what our God has done for us and explain how he sent his only begotten son to die for us.
These are the five purposes the author explained in depth and it is what exists to guide us to an eternity of joy for all that we have done for God.