Baptist City Blog

Losing Your Purpose

Isaiah 23:4
"Be thou ashamed, O Zidon: for the sea hath spoken, even the strength of the sea, saying, I travail not, nor bring forth children, neither do I nourish up young men, nor bring up virgins."

One of the greatest dangers for an individual, organization or nation is to lose their purpose of existence. In the verse above, it seems as if Zidon had lost its purpose for existence.  Notice what the verse says about Zidon, "I travail not, nor bring forth children, neither do I nourish up young men, nor bring up virgins." Zidon fell for the trap of trying to do everything that was easy and living for itself.  It forgot that a generation followed whom they were commanded to teach the ways of the LORD.  Because Zidon lost its purpose for existence, they wandered from God's commandments, therefore they had to face the judgment of God.  

Christian, you must be careful about losing your purpose for existence.  You can clearly see in the verse above that your purpose for existence is not you. God did not bring you into this world so that you could live for yourself.  God brought you into this world to fulfill a task that only you could fulfill, which is training the generation that follows you in the ways of the LORD.  If you fall for the trap that Zidon did, and to no avail, then you will lose your purpose and face God's judgment.  

Furthermore, every church must be careful not to lose its purpose for existence. The purpose of the church is to fulfill the Great Commission. You will notice that the Great Commission is about others.  When a church becomes focused on itself, then a church will lose its purpose for existence.  When a church loses its purpose, that is when a church will start having problems between church members.  Simply put, a church needs to travail over making sure the next generation carries on the truth.  

Once you lose your purpose, it is hard to get it back.  Yet, you must get it back or else you will spiritually die.  The way to get it back is to get some help.  Recently I had a person call me for help in this area.  They told me they had lost their purpose, which led them to make many selfish decisions.  They told me that they needed someone to help them get back on track.  That is exactly what you need to do!  When you lose your purpose, you need to get help from someone who will help you to get refocused on your purpose.

Furthermore, while getting help, you need to get refocused on others.  The best way I have found to do this is through soul winning. Soul winning has a way of getting Christians focused on their purpose for existence.  When you see what sin is doing to people, you will find it easier to get refocused.  Likewise, when you start seeing people saved, the focus of your purpose starts coming back. You must purposely take your eyes off of yourself to get refocused, and the best way to do this is through soul winning.

In closing let me encourage you to keep your purpose of existence. Your purpose as a Christian is to reproduce yourself in others.  That means you need to be a soul winner and lead others to Christ, then help disciple them to go out and do the same.  If you will keep your focus on this purpose, then you will find it easier to obey every command of God, which will keep you from His judgment.