We all want to believe that our lives have meaning, that we’re not just living insignificant lives. That at the end of it all our lives will count for something. The problem is that there is no meaning or significance without purpose. Discovering your purpose is what will give your life meaning. The truth is that many people don’t begin to question their purpose until they enter their 40’s and 50’s. They live the first half of their lives enjoying life and establishing and reaching goals. But goals and purpose are not necessarily the same thing. A goal is to study and work hard to have a good career, but purpose is found in what you will do with that career. A goal is to make a certain amount of money, purpose is found in how you manage that money. For many Christians, a goal may be to get baptized but purpose is found in what they do after they get baptized.

The purposes of a person’s heart are deep waters, but one who has insight draws them out. – Proverbs 20:5 NIV

Discovering your purpose is not always easy, especially because we’ve been conditioned to ask the wrong question. We tend to ask what is my purpose? The problem is that answering that question oftentimes fails to lead us in discovering our purpose. It’s a good start, but there’s a better question. But before I give you the better question, let’s begin by defining what purpose is. Purpose is the reason why something exists or is accomplished. A purpose is to be a means to an end. The problem is that most people don’t want to be the means they want to be the end. They don’t want to be the reason for something they want to be the something. Much like a computer, it will never find its purpose in itself, because the reason for its existence is to help people, not itself. Or like a house, which doesn’t find its purpose in itself because the reason that houses are built is to house people. Likewise, you can never find your purpose in yourself because you were created to be a means, not the end. So, a better question to ask is, who is my purpose?

After a while no matter how many goals you reach, without purpose, your life will begin to feel meaningless. Life begins to gain meaning when you realize that you are the means, not the end. When instead of asking what’s my purpose, you begin to ask who is my purpose?