Dipo Adebayo
5 min readFeb 15, 2022

--

How to Discover your Purpose in Life.

Stop searching for it, do these 3 things instead.

Have you come to that point where you’re asking questions like, “Why am I here?”, “What’s the essence of life?”, “What’s my purpose?”

There are only 3 things you need to know to get the main idea of what your life's purpose is all about:

1- Focus on knowing God:

Focus on receiving His love in your heart and soul, and loving Him with all that you are- your mind, heart and soul. And loving your neighbor as you love yourself, and even better, as Christ loves you.

The goal of life is first and foremost to seek intimacy with God, before doing things for God.

Walking with God in love and intimacy comes first before working for God. Focus on being with God, and then He will show you what to do for Him.

There’s no one that knows the full picture of God’s plans for them. In fact David says in the Psalms, if he were to number God’s thoughts for him it will outnumber the grains of sand (Psalm 139:17-18)

But here’s the thing, as we walk closely with Him, through studying the Bible and obeying His Spirit, step by step, He shows us some more of what He has in store for us. (These scriptures shed light on this: Psalm 119:105. 25:12. Psalm 23. Jeremiah 29:11. 1 Corinthians 2:9-12)

Our lives become a love adventure with God, where we are like, “Papa, what’s next?” rather than it being like one big project that is unclear to us. Check out Romans 8:15-17 in The Message (MSG) translation for more context.

Here are scriptures from the Bible that provide the basis to this first point- you can read them in different translations for better understanding- Amplified (AMP), NIV, NET, TPT, MSG & NLT are my preferred):

Matthew 22:37-40, Philippians 3:7-11. John 17:3. Colossians 1:9-12. Ephesians 3:14-19- AMP

Now to the next thing you need to do to live purposefully.

2- Focus on seeking the kingdom of God:

The first place to continuously seek the kingdom of God (God’s reign and dominion) is in our own lives; that we may increasingly get to that point of surrender where He is in complete control of our lives; where we live and breathe His presence. Like John said, “He must become greater; I must become less” (John 3:30)

The next place to seek God’s kingdom is in others, through bringing more people into the family of God, i.e through evangelism and conversion into believing in Jesus as LORD and following Him. (John 3:16. Romans 10:9-10)

The third place to seek God’s kingdom is in His Church (His Body; the family of God, of which Jesus is head), through building up those already in the family of God (i.e discipleship- teaching/mentoring others to follow Jesus) in whatever way we are led to. (Matthew 28:18-20 sheds light on this)

And also through serving our brothers and sisters in Christ through the gifts that God has given us, and the areas of service He has called us to.

1 Corinthians 12 gives us different gifts of the Holy Spirit, and different areas in which we could serve in building up the church (body or family of Christ)

Here are some scriptures that provide the basis to this second point: Luke 11:2. Matthew 6:33. Matthew 28:18-20

And finally, to the last thing you need to do to live purposefully:

3- Do your Day-to-Day tasks as though you’re doing them for God:

See purpose, not as one big thing to achieve, but in doing the things you do in your day to day life as though you are doing them for God. Colossians 3:23-24 sheds light on this.

For example, spending time with God DAILY in prayer and studying the Bible, serving in your local church, treating people right, doing your schoolwork, or job or business with the best effort you can give, doing it with all your heart, as though it were for God. Romans 12:1-2 (Read in Message translation)

Do your job with all your heart, as though God is your boss, treat your family beautifully well as though Jesus were your family and you’re taking care of Him; love people as Jesus loves you.

As you follow God’s general purpose in the Bible: walking in love with God, and with others, seeking His kingdom (His Lordship) in yourself, others and his Church, and doing your day-to-day tasks as though you are doing them unto God, then God’s specific will/leading for you per time and season will come to you- Psalm 32:8. Isaiah 30:20-21. John 10:1-5 sheds light on this.

You will find Him leading you constantly, whether you realize it or not, (like He described in Psalm 23 and Isaiah 30:21) into more specific things He wants you to do, like what career path or work/business to choose, what ministry to serve in, whom to marry, where to live etc.

The key to finding purpose (God’s will for you in specific areas of your life) is to start by following what is clearly spelt out in the Bible– as you start with that, God will lead you into the specifics of how those instructions will play out in your own life.

And the number one instruction of God is to believe and receive His Son, Jesus. Have you done that? If you have never sincerely done this, just say this simple prayer:

Lord Jesus, I believe you are the Son of God, and you came to the world to die for my sins so that I may have abundant and eternal life rather than eternal suffering. Thank you Jesus for saving me. I receive your forgiveness and your love. I confess you as my Master (Lord) and my Saviour. From today on, I give you command of my life— you tell me what to do, and I’ll follow. In Jesus name. Amen

If you’ve just made this prayer, I congratulate you! You have just begun the exciting journey of purpose! As soon as possible, find a family (church) where the Bible and Jesus is preached and be a part of them, and devote yourself to the study of the Bible and to prayer, so you can grow your relationship with Jesus.

So go buy yourself a physical Bible, and download for free on Google Play store, the amazing YouVersion Bible apphttps://j794q.app.goo.gl/BTDHFymSXDjgvc3p6

What are your thoughts on this article? Are there some things you’ll like to add or clarify. Please share in the comments.

Do you find this article useful? Please don’t keep it to yourself, do SHARE.

Will you like to support the author’s work? Your donation will be gratefully received at: 0147752953- GTB (naira account) or 5072065841- Zenith Bank (dollar account)

Want us to connect on social media platforms? Feel free to connect on Dipo Adebayo on Facebook, Instagram and for LinkedIn, connect here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dipo-adebayo-a99493114

Want to see the Soft-Skill trainings I offer? Check out https://oasistraining.com.ng

Till next time. God bless you. Cheers.

Image credit: dreamstime.com

--

--

Dipo Adebayo

I am a water engineer, softskills coach, writer & teen counselor. I write on hope and rising above shame, rejection, fear & failure. Follow on IG @dipoadebayo