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Robin Quivers, co-host for radio host Howard Stern, faced a cancer diagnosis followed by seventeen months of chemotherapy and radiation. In an interview with Rolling Stone Magazine, she shared what she learned:
“What I learned is very simple: that your life belongs to you. And it really doesn't matter what you do with it, but it should be what you want to do with it. Not what your mother or father or friends or society want. It should be "I" directed. And that's the only purpose for being here.”
I suspect that she had been weighed down by the expectations of others and the time of reflection had given her the clarity to put their voices in perspective. But I fear that she just traded one soul-draining approach to life for another that’s just as oppressive.
To conclude that it doesn’t really matter what you do with your life is to conclude that life doesn’t really matter. And to say that doing what you want is the only purpose for being here is a recipe for selfishness but not satisfaction.
In Luke 9:25, Jesus asked, “What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself?” He was saying that you can get everything you want but lose yourself along the way. You can do whatever you want, but you might not like the person you become in the process. More importantly, you’re not the only one who will evaluate how you spend your life. The Bible says that “each of us will give an account of himself to God” (Romans 14:12). Matt Perman suggests three principles for charting a life course that is both satisfying and meaningful.
1. Orient your life around the right mission
Most companies today have mission statements and many professionals do as well. Most of never articulate our own ‘mission’ in life and yet everyone subconsciously lives by one. Robin Quivers mission statement could be phrased, ‘Do what you want to do.’ In the Bible, our mission is accepted not invented. Jesus came as close as anyone to defining life’s purpose when He said that two commandments summarized the entire Old Testament (Matthew 22:40). From His words, I’ve phrased my mission as “love God and love others because God first loved us.” Articulating an over-arching statement like that provides a way of evaluating what you do and why it matters.
2. Discern what you’ve been created to do
While everyone has been given the same basic mission, each of us makes a unique contribution. We have different personalities, backgrounds, skills, and passions. None of that is by mistake. The Bible says that “we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10). In other words, God created each of us to be a force for good in a particular way. Reflecting on how God has made us gives us a sense of this. Perman recommends asking two questions:
· What would I do if I had all the money I needed and could do whatever I wanted?
· What would I do if I could do only one thing in the next three years?
3. Balance your goals in light of your roles
Understanding what you’ve been created to do can be exhilarating. The problem is that we can run with blinders on. We can adopt a one-dimensional view of life and lose sight of people and things that are truly important. That’s why it’s essential to balance your goals in light of your roles. Most people have multiple roles that they juggle at work and it’s important to keep track of these. But we also need to manage the roles that we don’t get paid for (e.g. spouse, parent, child, friend, neighbour, disciple). People who ignore one or more of their roles in order to achieve one of their goals end up facing regret.
Life is too long to never invest time in thinking about what to do with it. Evaluate your life in light of the mission we’ve been given, the purpose for which you were created, and the roles to which you’ve been called.
In awe of Him,
Paul
P.S. For more help in organizing your life, see Matt Perman’s excellent book, “What's Best Next: How the Gospel Transforms the Way You Get Things Done.”
https://www.amazon.ca/Whats-Best-Next-Gospel-Transforms/dp/0310533988/
