Up@dawn 2.0

Monday, April 24, 2017

Section 8- Installment 1


Crews Holt

Philosophy

4/24/17

The Purpose Driven Life

Life is all about highs and lows. Everyone has good and bad days, but some days get too difficult to handle. You find yourself laying in bed wondering what your purpose is in life and where to go next. "The Purpose Driven Life" ,by Rick Warren, is a step by step spiritual journey process that helps someone find themselves and get back on track with their spiritual life. Everyone has doubts in life and almost everyone believes in a higher power, whether it be the Christian God or not. I myself have gone through many ups and downs in my Christian life, questioning God and getting frustrated at things that were happening asking "why has this happened?" Rick Warren's "The Purpose Driven Life" is a great book that allows you to tap into those questions and really figure out what God's plan is for you. It would be too difficult to dissect every chapter of the book, so I will summarize some of my favorites. The first one, being the first chapter, talks about how searching for one's purpose in life is difficult because everyone is starting at the wrong place (themselves). Too many of us pray for some kind of better life or for this or that to happen. Life is about letting God use us for his good, not the other way around. Diving deeper into ones purpose in life goes back to your relationship with God. Your relationship with God is depicted by how y'all are communicating. You cannot just pray asking for materialistic items. God put you on earth for a purpose which is to spread the word of God. Your relationship with himself, and with how you treat people on a daily basis is what matters most in life. Another good chapter is 14 which also deals some with communication with God. It talks about when God seems distant and how it gets difficult because you don't always feel your prayers are being answered. It is easy to pray daily to thank God for when things are going well, but Warren says when things are not going well that is when your relationship with God needs to be the strongest. Things will only get better, God does not put you in circumstances that he does not think you can get through. You have to trust his process and plan and truly believe he has a plan for you. Another strong chapter is 17 which talks about God's family. Warren says you must have a strong relationship with members of your church. God put you on this earth to spread his word, not just to believe. These are just a couple of my favorite chapters of this book. Life gets hard, but your relationship with God needs to stay strong when you think you cannot get through it. Life will get better you just have to trust his plan. I look forward to diving deeper into the this book in my next segment. 

7 comments:

  1. I love how you said that spiritual faith gets you through hard times. Everybody needs to have that one thing in their life to get them through the hard times. It is also healthy to question your faith and values. It is apart of you growing up and maturing. I am also a Christian and has done the same on multiple occasions. I do agree that people often times pray selfish prayers and only think about themselves. You might say it is human nature to think of ones self before others. It seems like your relationship with god is very important for the overall success and joy you have with life. To summarize, if you communicate with god through prayer the more you will be happy and get through the "hard times." God seems to have a purpose and knows what is in your best interest in life, he guides you and has a plan laid out for your life if you have faith in him. The number goal I am getting from this installment is that your goal as a Christian is to spread the belief of Christianity. Overall I really enjoyed reading your first installment and I can't wait to read the next one.

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  2. I have never been very religious. Two parents with different religions and just questioning things had led me to that. I am however, still very open minded. I truly do believe there's something more to life and a greater purpose. With that being said, I don't really pin myself to a religion. I like to listen to what other religions have to say and be open minded. Maybe one day I make a choice on what I believe. With that being said I still often admire peoples devotion to their God. I love how God can push people to better themselves, become better fathers, and a better citizen.

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  3. I absolutely love this. I know that throughout the somewhat short time in my walk with Christ, He has worked a lot in my life to grow my faith and make me learn to depend on him more. Like John 15 says, God prunes the branches that bear fruit in order for more substantial and healthy growth. It also mentions how without a relationship and abiding in Him, that those branches get removed and thrown into fire because they have no purpose, thus meaning without Him we have no purpose. Great post for sure!

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  4. "Life is about letting God use us for his good, not the other way around" - I know that's Rick Warren's perspective, but it begs the question against all who believe purpose and commitment to be human constructions. There are many forms of purpose, the God-centered life being but one among many. I'm glad it works for those who find it meaningful, but what about the rest?

    I'm a fan of purpose-driven lives AND porpoise-driven... http://www.opencourtbooks.com/books_n/jimmy_buffett.htmJ

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  5. I agree with you on essentially all points here. I think it is an important lesson, whether you believe in God or not, that you should learn to find your purpose. As a Christian it is very easy to lose focus with all the distractions in our daily life. I think The Purpose Driven Life does a great job with giving suggestions and motivation to push through the hard stuff and keep your eyes on God.

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  6. I like this post a lot and agree with the things you said in it and I believe this could be a very helpful book to read. I too believe that having a good relationship and being able to communicate with God can make you a better person and help you make it through rough times. I also agree with your statement, "God does not put you in circumstances that he does not think you can get through."

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  7. This post is really interesting, but it left me asking the same question Dr. Oliver asked in his comment. What about the rest of us? I think finding purpose is incredibly important; otherwise, why would you keep living? However, I do not believe in a higher power at all. You wrote in your post that people look in the wrong place for purpose, that place being themselves. And I assume you are saying that people should look to God for purpose. But where does one look if he or she does not believe in God? I suppose other people and themselves. So I guess with this philosophy, it all comes down to whether or not you believe in God. And if you don't, this philosophy doesn't work for you. But that's okay. (I mean, I think it's okay. I don't actually have the authority to say if it's "okay" or not, but who does, really?) As a "non-believer" I look to other philosophies that work for me, just as you look to this philosophy because it works for you. Your post really got the wheels turning in my mind; thanks for that.

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