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Andrei Bitov, a Russian novelist, grew up under an atheistic
Communist regime. But God got his attention one dreary day.


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He recalls, “In my twenty-seventh year, while riding the metro in
Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) I was overcome with a despair so
great that life seemed to stop at once, preempting the future
entirely, let alone any meaning. Suddenly, all by itself, a phrase
appeared: Without God life makes no sense. Repeating it in
astonishment, I rode the phrase up like a moving staircase, got
out of the metro and walked into God’s light.”
7
You may have felt in the dark about your purpose in life. Congratulations, you’re about to walk into the light. Day One
Thinking about My Purpose
Point to Ponder: It’s not about me. Verse to Remember: “Everything got started in him
and finds its purpose in him.”  Colossians 1:16b (Msg)
Question to Consider: In spite of all the advertising
around me, how can I remind myself that life is really
about living for God, not myself? Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       


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2
You Are Not an Accident
I am your Creator. Y ou were in my care 
even before you were born. Isaiah 44:2a (CEV)
God doesn’ t play dice. Albert Einstein
You are not an accident. Your birth was no mistake or mishap, and your life is no fluke
of nature.


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Your parents may not have planned you, but God did. He was not at all surprised by your birth. In fact, he expected it. Long before you were conceived by your parents, you were
conceived in the mind of God. He thought of you first. It is not
fate, nor chance, nor luck, nor coincidence that you are
breathing at this very moment. You are alive because God
wanted to create you! The Bible says, “The Lord will fulfill his
purpose for me.”
1
God prescribed every single detail of your body. He
deliberately chose your race, the color of your skin, your hair, and
every other feature.


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He custom-made your body just the way he
wanted it. He also determined the natural talents you would
The Purpose-Driven Life 22
       Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       


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possess and the uniqueness of your personality. The Bible says,
“You know me inside and out, you know every bone in my body; You
know exactly how I was made, bit by bit, how I was sculpted from
nothing into something.”
2
Because God made you for a reason, he also decided when you
would be born and how long you would live. He planned the days
of your life in advance, choosing the exact time of your birth and
death. The Bible says, “You saw me before I was born and scheduled
each day of my life before I began to breathe. Every day was recorded
in your Book!”
3
God also planned where you’d be born and where you’d live for
his purpose. Your race and nationality are no accident. God left
no detail to chance.


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. and he determined
the times set for them and the exact places where they should live.”
4
Nothing in your life is arbitrary. It’s all for a purpose.


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Most amazing, God decided how you would be born. Regardless of the circumstances of your birth or who your parents
are, God had a plan in creating you. It doesn’t matter whether
your parents were good, bad, or indifferent. God knew that those
two individuals possessed exactly the right genetic makeup to
create the custom “you” he had in mind. They had the DNA God
wanted to make you. While there are illegitimate parents, there are no illegitimate
children. Many children are
unplanned by their parents, but
they are not unplanned by God. God’s purpose took into account
human error, and even sin. God never does anything
accidentally, and he never makes
mistakes. He has a reason for
everything he creates. Every plant and every animal was planned
by God, and every person was designed with a purpose in mind. What on Earth Am I Here For?


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23
Long before you were conceived
by your parents, you were
conceived in the mind of God. Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       


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God’s motive for creating you was his love. The Bible says, “Long
before he laid down earth’s foundations, he had us in mind, had
settled on us as the focus of his love.” 5
God was thinking of you even before he made the world. In
fact, that’s why he created it! God designed this planet’s
environment just so we could live in it. We are the focus of his
love and the most valuable of all his creation. The Bible says,
“God decided to give us life through the word of truth so we might be
the most important of all the things he made.”
6 This is how much
God loves and values you! God is not haphazard; he planned it all with great precision. The more physicists, biologists, and other scientists learn about
the universe, the better we understand how it is uniquely suited
for our existence, custom-made with the exact specifications that
make human life possible. Dr. Michael Denton, senior research fellow in human
molecular genetics at the University of Otago in New Zealand,
has concluded, “All the evidence available in the biological
sciences supports the core proposition . .


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. that the cosmos is a
specially designed whole with life and mankind as its
fundamental goal and purpose, a whole in which all facets of
reality have their meaning and explanation in this
central fact.”
7 The Bible said the same thing
thousands of years earlier: “God formed the
earth. .


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. He did not create it to be empty
but formed it to be inhabited.” 8
Why did God do all this? Why did he
bother to go to all the trouble of creating a
universe for us? Because he is a God of love. This kind of love is
difficult to fathom, but it’s fundamentally reliable. You were
created as a special object of God’s love! God made you so he
could love you. This is a truth to build your life on. The Bible tells us, “God is love.”
9 It doesn’t say Godhas love. He is love!


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Love is the essence of God’s character. There is perfect
The Purpose-Driven Life 24
       Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       


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But he wanted to make you in order to
express his love. God says, “I have carried you since
you were born; I have taken care of you from your
birth. Even when you are old, I will be the same. Even
when your hair has turned gray, I will take care of
you. I made you and will take care of you.”
10
If there was no God, we would all be
“accidents,” the result of astronomical random
chance in the universe. You could stop reading this book, because
life would have no purpose or meaning or significance. There
would be no right or wrong, and no hope beyond your brief years
here on earth. But there is a God who made you for a reason, and your life
has profound meaning! We discover that meaning and purpose
only when we make God the reference point of our lives. The
Message paraphrase of Romans 12:3 says, “The only accurate
way to understand ourselves is by what God is and by what he does
for us.”
This poem by Russell Kelfer sums it up:
You are who you are for a reason. You’re part of an intricate plan.


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You’re a precious and perfect unique design,
Called God’s special woman or man. You look like you look for a reason. Our God made no mistake. He knit you together within the womb,
You’re just what he wanted to make. The parents you had were the ones he chose,
And no matter how you may feel,
They were custom-designed with God’s plan in mind, 
And they bear the Master’s seal.


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What on Earth Am I Here For? 25
DAY TWO:
YOU ARE
NOT AN
ACCIDENT
       Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       


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The Purpose-Driven Life 26
No, that trauma you faced was not easy. And God wept that it hurt you so;
But it was allowed to shape your heart
So that into his likeness you’d grow. You are who you are for a reason,
You’ve been formed by the Master’s rod. You are who you are, beloved,
Because there is a God! 11
Day Two
Thinking about My Purpose
Point to Ponder: I am not an accident. Verse to Remember: “I am your Creator.


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You were in
my care even before you were born.”  Isaiah 44:2 (CEV)
Question to Consider: Knowing that God uniquely
created me, what areas of my personality, background,
and physical appearance am I struggling to accept? Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       


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3
What Drives Y our Life? I observed that the basic motive for success 
is the driving force of envy and jealousy! Ecclesiastes 4:4 (LB)
The man without a purpose is like 
a ship without a rudder—a waif, 
a nothing, a no man. Thomas Carlyle
Everyone’s life is driven by something. Most dictionaries define the verb drive as “to guide, to control,
or to direct.” Whether you are driving a car, a nail, or a golf ball,
you are guiding, controlling, and directing it at that moment. What is the driving force in your life?


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Right now you may be driven by a problem, a pressure, or a
deadline. You may be driven by a painful memory, a haunting
fear, or an unconscious belief. There are hundreds of
circumstances, values, and emotions that can drive your life. Here
are five of the most common ones:
Many people are driven by guilt. They spend their entire lives
running from regrets and hiding their shame. Guilt-driven people
are manipulated by memories. They allow their past to control
their future.


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They often unconsciously punish themselves by
What on Earth Am I Here For? 27
       Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       


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sabotaging their own success. When Cain sinned, his guilt
disconnected him from God’s presence, and God said, “You will
be a restless wanderer on the earth.” 1 That describes most people
today—wandering through life without a purpose. We are products of our past, but we don’t have to be prisoners
of it.


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God’s purpose is not limited by your past. He turned a
murderer named Moses into a leader and a coward named Gideon
into a courageous hero, and he can do amazing things with the
rest of your life, too. God specializes in giving people a fresh start. The Bible says, “What happiness for those whose guilt has been
forgiven! .


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. What relief for those who have confessed their sins and
God has cleared their record.”
2
Many people are driven by resentment and anger. They hold
on to hurts and never get over them. Instead of releasing their
pain through forgiveness, they rehearse it over and over in their
minds. Some resentment-driven people “clam up” and internalize
their anger, while others “blow up” and explode it onto others. Both responses are unhealthy and unhelpful. Resentment always hurts you more than it does the person you
resent. While your offender has probably forgotten the offense
and gone on with life, you continue to stew in your pain,
perpetuating the past. Listen: Those who have hurt you in the past cannot continue
to hurt you now unless you hold on to the pain through
resentment. Your past is past! Nothing will change it. You are
only hurting yourself with your bitterness.


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For your own sake,
learn from it, and then let it go. The Bible says, “To worry yourself
to death with resentment would be a foolish, senseless thing to do.”
3
Many people are driven by fear. Their fears may be a result of
a traumatic experience, unrealistic expectations, growing up in a
high-control home, or even genetic predisposition. Regardless of
the cause, fear-driven people often miss great opportunities
because they’re afraid to venture out. Instead they play it safe,
avoiding risks and trying to maintain the status quo. The Purpose-Driven Life 28
       Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       


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Fear is a self-imposed prison that will keep you from becoming
what God intends for you to be. You must move against it with
the weapons of faith and love. The Bible says, “Well-formed love
banishes fear. Since fear is crippling, a fearful life—fear of death,
fear of judgment—is one not yet fully formed in love.” 4
Many people are driven by materialism. Their desire to
acquire becomes the whole goal of their lives.


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This drive to always
want more is based on the misconceptions that having more will
make me more happy, more important, and more secure, but all
three ideas are untrue. Possessions only provide temporary
happiness. Because things do not change, we eventually become
bored with them and then want newer, bigger, better versions. It’s also a myth that if I get more, I will be more important.


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Self-worth and net worth are not the same. Your value is not
determined by your valuables, and God says the most valuable
things in life are not things! The most common myth about money is that having more will
make me more secure. It won’t.


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Wealth can be lost instantly
through a variety of uncontrollable factors. Real security can only
be found in that which can never be taken from you—your
relationship with God. Many people are driven by the need for approval.


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They
allow the expectations of parents or
spouses or children or teachers or
friends to control their lives. Many
adults are still trying to earn the
approval of unpleasable parents. Others are driven by peer pressure,
always worried by what others
might think. Unfortunately, those
who follow the crowd usually get
lost in it. I don’t know all the keys to success, but one key to failure is to
try to please everyone. Being controlled by the opinions of others
What on Earth Am I Here For? 29
Nothing matters more than
knowing God’ s purposes for your
life, and nothing can compensate
for not knowing them. Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       


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is a guaranteed way to miss God’s purposes for your life. Jesus
said, “No one can serve two masters.” 5
There are other forces that can drive your life but all lead to the
same dead end: unused potential, unnecessary stress, and an
unfulfilled life. This forty-day journey will show you how to live a purpose-
driven life—a life guided, controlled, and directed by God’s
purposes. Nothing matters more than knowing God’s purposes
for your life, and nothing can compensate for not knowing
them—not success, wealth, fame, or pleasure. Without a
purpose, life is motion without meaning, activity without
direction, and events without reason. Without a purpose, life is
trivial, petty, and pointless. The Benefits of Purpose-Driven Living
There are five great benefits of living a purpose-driven life:
Knowing your purpose gives meaning to your life. We were
made to have meaning.


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This is why people try dubious methods,
like astrology or psychics, to discover it. When life has meaning,
you can bear almost anything; without it, nothing is bearable. A young man in his twenties wrote, “I feel like a failure
because I’m struggling to become something, and I don’t even
know what it is. All I know how to do is to get by. Someday, if I discover my purpose, I’ll feel I’m
beginning to live.” 
Without God, life has no purpose, and without
purpose, life has no meaning. Without meaning, life
has no significance or hope.


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In the Bible, many
different people expressed this hopelessness. Isaiah
complained, “I have labored to no purpose; I have spent my strength
in vain and for nothing.”
6 Job said, “My life drags by—day after
hopeless day” 7 and “I give up; I am tired of living. Leave me alone.


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My life makes no sense.” 8 The greatest tragedy is not death, but life
without purpose. The Purpose-Driven Life 30
DAY THREE:
WHAT
DRIVES
YOUR
LIFE? Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       


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Dr. Bernie Siegel found he could predict which of his
cancer patients would go into remission by asking, “Do you want
to live to be one hundred?” Those with a deep
sense of life purpose answered yes and were
the ones most likely to survive. Hope comes
from having a purpose. If you have felt hopeless, hold on! Wonderful changes are going to happen in
your life as you begin to live it on purpose. God
says, “I know what I am planning for you. .


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. ‘I have
good plans for you, not plans to hurt you. I will give you hope and a
good future.’”
9 You may feel you are facing an impossible
situation, but the Bible says, “God . .


key: original_content
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. is able to do far more than
we would ever dare to ask or even dream of—infinitely beyond our
highest prayers, desires, thoughts, or hopes.”
10
Knowing your purpose simplifies your life. It defines what
you do and what you don’t do. Your purpose becomes the
standard you use to evaluate which activities are essential and
which aren’t. You simply ask, “Does this activity help me fulfill
one of God’s purposes for my life?” 
Without a clear purpose you have no foundation on which you
base decisions, allocate your time, and use your resources. You
will tend to make choices based on circumstances, pressures, and
your mood at that moment. People who don’t know their
purpose try to do too much—and that causes stress, fatigue, and
conflict. It is impossible to do everything people want you to do. You
have just enough time to do God’s will. If you can’t get it all
done, it means you’re trying to do more than God intended for
you to do (or, possibly, that you’re watching too much
television). Purpose-driven living leads to a simpler lifestyle and a
saner schedule. The Bible says, “A pretentious, showy life is an
empty life; a plain and simple life is a full life.”
11 It also leads to
What on Earth Am I Here For? 31
       Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       


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peace of mind: “You, Lord, give perfect peace to those who keep their
purpose firm and put their trust in you.” 12
Knowing your purpose focuses your life. It concentrates
your effort and energy on what’s important.


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You become effective
by being selective. It’s human nature to get distracted by minor issues. We play
Trivial Pursuit with our lives. Henry David Thoreau observed
that people live lives of “quiet desperation,” but today a better
description is aimless distraction. Many people are like gyroscopes,
spinning around at a frantic pace but never going anywhere. Without a clear purpose, you will keep changing directions,
jobs, relationships, churches, or other externals—hoping each
change will settle the confusion or fill the emptiness in your heart. You think, Maybe this time it will be different, but it doesn’t solve
your real problem—a lack of focus and purpose. The Bible says, “Don’t live carelessly, unthinkingly. Make sure
you understand what the Master wants.”
13
The power of focusing can be seen in light. Diffused light has
little power or impact, but you can concentrate its energy by
focusing it. With a magnifying glass, the rays of the sun can be
focused to set grass or paper on fire. When light is focused even
more as a laser beam, it can cut through steel. There is nothing quite as potent
as a focused life, one lived on
purpose.


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The men and women who
have made the greatest difference in
history were the most focused. For
instance, the apostle Paul almost
single-handedly spread Christianity
throughout the Roman Empire. His secret was a focused life. He
said, “I am focusing all my energies on this one thing: Forgetting the
past and looking forward to what lies ahead.”
14
If you want your life to have impact, focus it! Stop dabbling.


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Do less. Prune away even good activities
The Purpose-Driven Life 32
If you want your life to have
impact, focus it! Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       


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and do only that which matters most. Never confuse activity with
productivity. You can be busy without a purpose, but what’s the
point? Paul said, “Let’s keep focused on that goal, those of us who
want everything God has for us.”
15
Knowing your purpose motivates your life. Purpose always
produces passion.


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Nothing energizes like a clear purpose. On the
other hand, passion dissipates when you lack a purpose. Just
getting out of bed becomes a major
chore. It is usually meaningless
work, not overwork, that wears us
down, saps our strength, and robs
our joy. George Bernard Shaw wrote,
“This is the true joy of life: the
being used up for a purpose
recognized by yourself as a mighty one; being a force of nature
instead of a feverish, selfish little clot of ailments and grievances,
complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you
happy.” 
Knowing your purpose prepares you for eternity. Many
people spend their lives trying to create a lasting legacy on earth.


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They want to be remembered when they’re gone. Yet, what
ultimately matters most will not be what others say about your life
but what God says. What people fail to realize is that all
achievements are eventually surpassed, records are broken,
reputations fade, and tributes are forgotten. In college, James
Dobson’s goal was to become the school’s tennis champion. He
felt proud when his trophy was prominently placed in the school’s
trophy cabinet.


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They
had found it in a trashcan when the school was remodeled. Jim
said, “Given enough time, all your trophies will be trashed by
someone else!”
Living to create an earthly legacy is a short-sighted goal. A
wiser use of time is to build an eternal legacy. You weren’t put 
What on Earth Am I Here For? 33
You weren’ t put on earth to be
remembered. Y ou were put 
here to prepare for eternity. Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       


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on earth to be remembered. You were put here to prepare for
eternity. One day you will stand before God, and he will do an audit of
your life, a final exam, before you enter eternity. The Bible says,
“Remember, each of us will stand personally before the judgment seat
of God. .


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. Yes, each of us will have to give a personal account to
God.”
16 Fortunately, God wants us to pass this test, so he has
given us the questions in advance. From the Bible we can surmise
that God will ask us two crucial questions:
First, “What did you do with my Son, Jesus Christ?” God won’t
ask about your religious background or doctrinal views. The only
thing that will matter is, did you accept what Jesus did for you
and did you learn to love and trust him? Jesus said, “I am the way
and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except
through me.”
17
Second, “What did you do with what I gave you?” What did
you do with your life—all the gifts, talents,
opportunities, energy, relationships, and
resources God gave you? Did you spend
them on yourself, or did you use them for
the purposes God made you for?” 
Preparing you for these two questions is
the goal of this book.


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The first question will
determine where you spend eternity. The second question
will determine what you do in eternity. By the end of this book
you will be ready to answer both questions. The Purpose-Driven Life 34
       Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       


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What on Earth Am I Here For? 35
Day Three
Thinking about My Purpose
Point to Ponder: Living on purpose is the path to
peace. Verse to Remember: “You, Lord, give perfect peace to
those who keep their purpose firm and put their trust in
you.” Isaiah 26:3 (TEV)
Question to Consider: What would my family and
friends say is the driving force of my life? What do I
want it to be?


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. planted eternity 
in the human heart. Ecclesiastes 3:11 (NLT)
Surely God would not have created such 
a being as man to exist only for a day! No, no, man was made for immortality. Abraham Lincoln
This life is not all there is. Life on earth is just the dress rehearsal before the real
production. You will spend far more time on the other side of
death— in eternity— than you will here. Earth is the staging area,
the preschool, the tryout for your life in eternity. It is the practice
workout before the actual game; the warm-up lap before the race
begins. This life is preparation for the next. At most, you will live a hundred years on earth, but you will
spend forever in eternity. Your time on earth is, as Sir Thomas
Browne said, “but a small parenthesis in eternity.” You were made
to last forever. The Bible says, “God has .


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. planted eternity in the human
heart.”
1 You have an inborn instinct that longs for immortality. This is because God designed you, in his image, to live for
The Purpose-Driven Life 36
       Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       


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eternity. Even though we know everyone eventually dies, death
always seems unnatural and unfair. The reason we feel we should
live forever is that God wired our brains with that desire! One day your heart will stop beating. That will be the end of
your body and your time on earth, but it will not be the end of
you.


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Your earthly body is just a temporary residence for your
spirit. The Bible calls your earthly body a “tent,” but refers to
your future body as a “house.” The Bible says, “When this tent we
live in—our body here on earth—is torn down, God will have a
house in heaven for us to live in, a home he himself has made, which
will last forever.”
2
While life on earth offers many choices, eternity offers only
two: heaven or hell. Your relationship to God on earth will
determine your relationship to him in eternity. If you learn to love
and trust God’s Son, Jesus, you will be invited to spend the rest
of eternity with him. On the other hand, if you reject his love,
forgiveness, and salvation, you will spend eternity apart from God
forever. C.


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S. Lewis said, “There are two kinds of people: those who say
to God ‘Thy will be done’and those to whom God says, ‘All right
then, have it your way.’”Tragically, many people will have to
endure eternity without God because they chose to live without
him here on earth. When you fully comprehend that there is more to life than just
here and now, and you realize that life is just preparation for
eternity, you will begin to live
differently. You will start living in
light of eternity, and that will color
how you handle every relationship,
task, and circumstance. Suddenly
many activities, goals, and even
problems that seemed so important
will appear trivial, petty, and unworthy of your attention. The closer
you live to God, the smaller everything else appears. What on Earth Am I Here For?


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37
This life is preparation 
for the next. Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       


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When you live in light of eternity, your values change. You use
your time and money more wisely. You place a higher premium
on relationships and character instead of fame or wealth or
achievements or even fun. Your priorities are reordered.


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Keeping
up with trends, fashions, and popular values just doesn’t matter as
much anymore. Paul said, “I once thought all these things were so
very important, but now I consider them worthless because of what
Christ has done.”
3
If your time on earth were all there is to your life, I would
suggest you start living it up immediately. You could forget being
good and ethical, and you wouldn’t have to worry about any
consequences of your actions.


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You could indulge yourself in total
self-centeredness because your actions would have no long-term
repercussions. But— and this makes
all the difference— death is not the
end of you! Death is not your
termination, but your transition
into eternity, so there are eternal
consequences to everything you do
on earth. Every act of our lives
strikes some chord that will vibrate in eternity. The most damaging aspect of contemporary living is short-
term thinking. To make the most of your life, you must keep the
vision of eternity continually in your mind and the value of it in
your heart. There’s far more to life than just here and now! Today
is the visible tip of the iceberg. Eternity is all the rest you don’t
see underneath the surface. What is it going to be like in eternity with God? Frankly, the
capacity of our brains cannot handle the wonder and greatness of
heaven. It would be like trying to describe the Internet to an ant. It’s futile.


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Words have not been invented that could possibly
convey the experience of eternity. The Bible says, “No mere man
has ever seen, heard or even imagined what wonderful things God
has ready for those who love the Lord.”
4
The Purpose-Driven Life 38
When you live in light of
eternity, your values change. Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       


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However, God has given us glimpses of eternity in his Word. We know that right now God is preparing an eternal home for us. In heaven we will be reunited with loved ones who are believers,
released from all pain and suffering, rewarded for our
faithfulness on earth, and reassigned to do work that
we will enjoy doing. We won’tlie around on clouds
with halos playing harps! We will enjoy unbroken
fellowship with God, and he will enjoy us for an
unlimited, endless forever. One day Jesus will say,
“Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the
kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.”
5
C. S. Lewis captured the concept of eternity on the last page of
the Chronicles of Narnia, his seven-book children’s fiction series:
“For us this is the end of all the stories. .


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. had only been the cover and the title page: now at last they were
beginning Chapter One of the Great Story, which no one on
earth has read, which goes on forever and in which every chapter
is better than the one before.”
6
God has a purpose for your life on earth, but it doesn’t end
here. His plan involves far more than the few decades you will
spend on this planet. It’s more than “the opportunity of a
lifetime”; God offers you an opportunity beyond your lifetime. The Bible says, “[God’s] plans endure forever; his purposes last
eternally.”
7
The only time most people think about eternity is at funerals,
and then it’s often shallow, sentimental thinking, based on
ignorance. You may feel it’s morbid to think about death, but
actually it’s unhealthy to live in denial of death and not consider
what is inevitable. 8 Only a fool would go through life unprepared
for what we all know will eventually happen.


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You need to think
more about eternity, not less. Just as the nine months you spent in your mother’s womb were
not an end in themselves but preparation for life, so this life is
What on Earth Am I Here For? 39
DAY FOUR:
MADE TO
LAST
FOREVER
       Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       


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preparation for the next. If you have a relationship with God
through Jesus, you don’t need to fear death. It is the door to
eternity.


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It will be the last hour of your time on earth, but it
won’t be the last of you. Rather than being the
end of your life, it will be your birthday into
eternal life. The Bible says, “This world is not
our home; we are looking forward to our
everlasting home in heaven.”
9
Measured against eternity, our time on
earth is just a blink of an eye, but the
consequences of it will last forever. The deeds of this life
are the destiny of the next. We should be “realizing that every
moment we spend in these earthly bodies is time spent away from our
eternal home in heaven with Jesus.”
10 Years ago a popular slogan
encouraged people to live each day as “the first day of the rest of
your life.” Actually, it would be wiser to live each day as if it were
the last day of your life. Matthew Henry said, “It ought to be the
business of every day to prepare for our final day.”
Day Four
Thinking about My Purpose
Point to Ponder: There is more to life than just here
and now. Verse to Remember: “This world is fading away, along
with everything it craves.


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But if you do the will of God, you
will live forever.”  1 John 2:17 (NLT)
Question to Consider: Since I was made to last
forever, what is the one thing I should stop doing and
the one thing I should start doing today? The Purpose-Driven Life 40
       Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       


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5
Seeing Life from God’s View
What is your life? James 4:14b (NIV)
We don’ t see things as they are, 
we see them as we are. Anaïs Nin
The way you see your life shapes your life. How you define life determines your destiny.


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Your perspective
will influence how you invest your time, spend your money, use
your talents, and value your relationships. One of the best ways to understand other people is to ask
them, “How do you see your life?” You will discover that there are
as many different answers to that question as there are people. I’ve been told life is a circus, a minefield, a roller coaster, a puzzle,
a symphony, a journey, and a dance. People have said, “Life is a
carousel: Sometimes you’re up, sometimes you’re down, and
sometimes you just go round and round” or “life is a ten-speed
bicycle with gears we never use” or “life is a game of cards: You
have to play the hand you are dealt.”
If I asked how you picture life, what image would come to your
mind? That image is your life metaphor.


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It’s the view of life that
What on Earth Am I Here For? 41
       Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       


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you hold, consciously or unconsciously, in your mind. It’s your
description of how life works and what you expect from it. People
often express their life metaphors through clothes, jewelry, cars,
hairstyles, bumper stickers, even tattoos. Your unspoken life metaphor influences your life more than
you realize.


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It determines your expectations, your values, your
relationships, your goals, and your priorities. For instance, if you
think life is a party, your primary value in life will be having fun. If
you see life as a race, you will value speed and will probably be in a
hurry much of the time. If you view life as a marathon, you will
value endurance. If you see life as a battle or a game, winning will
be very important to you. What is your view of life?


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You may be basing your life on a
faulty life metaphor. To fulfill the purposes God made you for,
you will have to challenge conventional wisdom and
replace it with the biblical metaphors of life. The Bible
says, “Do not conform yourselves to the standards of this
world, but let God transform you inwardly by a complete
change of your mind. Then you will be able to know the
will of God.”
1
The Bible offers three metaphors that teach us
God’s view of life: Life is a test, life is a trust, and life is
a temporary assignment. These ideas are the foundation of
purpose-driven living.


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Life on earth is a Test. This life metaphor is seen in stories
throughout the Bible. God continually tests people’s character,
faith, obedience, love, integrity, and loyalty. Words like trials,
temptations, refining, and testing occur more than 200 times in
the Bible. God tested Abraham by asking him to offer his son
Isaac. God tested Jacob when he had to work extra years to earn
Rachel as his wife. Adam and Eve failed their test in the Garden of Eden, and
David failed his tests from God on several occasions. But the
The Purpose-Driven Life 42
DAY FIVE:
SEEING
LIFE
FROM
GOD’S
VIEW
       Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       


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Bible also gives us many examples of people who passed a great
test, such as Joseph, Ruth, Esther, and Daniel. Character is both developed and revealed by tests, and all of
life is a test. You are always being tested. God constantly watches
your response to people, problems, success, conflict, illness,
disappointment, and even the weather! He even watches the
simplest actions such as when you
open a door for others, when you
pick up a piece of trash, or when
you’re polite toward a clerk or
waitress. We don’t know all the tests God
will give you, but we can predict
some of them, based on the Bible. You will be tested by major changes, delayed promises, impossible
problems, unanswered prayers, undeserved criticism, and even
senseless tragedies. In my own life I have noticed that God tests
my faith through problems, tests my hope by how I handle
possessions, and tests my love through people. A very important test is how you act when you can’t feel God’s
presence in your life. Sometimes God intentionally draws back,
and we don’t sense his closeness. A king named Hezekiah
experienced this test. The Bible says, “God withdrew from
Hezekiah in order to test him and to see what was really in his
heart.”
2 Hezekiah had enjoyed a close fellowship with God, but at
a crucial point in his life God left him alone to test his character,
to reveal a weakness, and to prepare him for more responsibility. When you understand that life is a test, you realize that nothing
is insignificant in your life.


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Even the smallest incident has
significance for your character development. Every day is an
important day, and every second is a growth opportunity to
deepen your character, to demonstrate love, or to depend on
God. Some tests seem overwhelming, while others you don’t even
notice.


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What on Earth Am I Here For? 43
Character is both developed 
and revealed by tests, 
and all of life is a test. Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       


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The good news is that God wants you to pass the tests of life,
so he never allows the tests you face to be greater than the grace
he gives you to handle them. The Bible says, “God keeps
his promise, and he will not allow you to be tested
beyond your power to remain firm; at the time
you are put to the test, he will give you the
strength to endure it, and so provide you with
a way out.” 3
Every time you pass a test, God notices and
makes plans to reward you in eternity. James says,
“Blessed are those who endure when they are tested. When they pass
the test, they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to
those who love him.”
4
Life on earth is a Trust. This is the second biblical metaphor
of life. Our time on earth and our energy, intelligence,
opportunities, relationships, and resources are all gifts from God
that he has entrusted to our care and management. We are
stewards of whatever God gives us. This concept of stewardship
begins with the recognition that God is the owner of everything
and everyone on earth. The Bible says, “The world and all that is
in it belong to the Lord; the earth and all who live on it are his.”
5
We never really own anything during our brief stay on earth. God just loans the earth to us while we’re here. It was God’s
property before you arrived, and God will loan it to someone else
after you die.


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You just get to enjoy it for a while. When God created Adam and Eve, he entrusted the care of his
creation to them and appointed them trustees of his property. The Bible says, “[God] blessed them, and said, ‘Have many
children, so that your descendants will live all over the earth and
bring it under their control. I am putting you in charge.’”
6
The first job God gave humans was to manage and take care of
God’s “stuff” on earth. This role has never been rescinded.


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Everything we enjoy is to be treated as
a trust that God has placed in our hands. The Bible says, “What do
The Purpose-Driven Life 44
       Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       


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you have that God hasn’t given you? And if all you have is from God,
why boast as though you have accomplished something on your own?”7
Years ago, a couple let my wife and me use their beautiful,
beach-front home in Hawaii for a vacation. It was an experience
we could never have afforded, and we enjoyed it immensely.


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We
were told, “Use it just like it’s yours,” so we did! We swam in the
pool, ate the food in the refrigerator, used the bath towels and
dishes, and even jumped on the beds in fun! But we knew all
along that it wasn’treally ours, so we took special care of
everything.


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We enjoyed the benefits of using the home without
owning it. Our culture says, “If you don’t own it, you won’t take care of
it.” But Christians live by a higher standard: “Because God owns
it, I must take the best care of it that I can.” The Bible says,
“Those who are trusted with something valuable must show they are
worthy of that trust.”
8 Jesus often referred to life as a trust and
told many stories to illustrate this responsibility toward God. In
the story of the talents,
9 a businessman entrusts his wealth to the
care of his servants while he’s away.


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When he returns, he evaluates
each servant’s responsibility and rewards them accordingly. The
owner says, “Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been
faithful with a few things; I will put
you in charge of many things. Come
and share your master’s happiness.”
10
At the end of your life on earth
you will be evaluated and rewarded
according to how well you handled
what God entrusted to you. That
means everything you do, even
simple daily chores, has eternal implications. If you treat
everything as a trust, God promises three rewards in eternity. First, you will be given God’s affirmation: He will say, “Good
job! Well done!” Next, you will receive a promotion and be given
greater responsibility in eternity: “I will put you in charge of
What on Earth Am I Here For? 45
The more God gives you, 
the more responsible he 
expects you to be. Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       


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many things.” Then you will be honored with a celebration:
“Come and share your Master’s happiness.”
Most people fail to realize that money is both a test and a trust
from God. God uses finances to teach us to trust him, and for
many people, money is the greatest test of all. God watches how
we use money to test how trustworthy we are. The Bible says, “If
you are untrustworthy about worldly wealth, who will trust you with
the true riches of heaven?”
11
This is a very important truth. God says there is a direct
relationship between how I use my money and the quality of my
spiritual life. How I manage my money (“worldly wealth”)
determines how much God can trust me with spiritual blessings
(“true riches”). Let me ask you: Is the way you manage your
money preventing God from doing more in your life? Can you be
trusted with spiritual riches? Jesus said, “From everyone who has been given much, much will be
demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much,
much more will be asked.”
12 Life is a test and a trust, and the more
God gives you, the more responsible he expects you to be. Day Five
Thinking about My Purpose
Point to Ponder: Life is a test and a trust. Verse to Remember: “Unless you are faithful in small
matters, you won’t be faithful in large ones.”
Luke 16:10a (NLT)
Question to Consider: What has happened to me
recently that I now realize was a test from God?


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The Purpose-Driven Life 46
       Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       


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6
Life Is a T emporary
Assignment
Lord, remind me how brief my time on 
earth will be. Remind me that my days are
numbered, and that my life is fleeing away. Psalm 39:4 (NLT) 
I am here on earth for just a little while. Psalm 119:19 (TEV)
Life on earth is a temporary assignment. The Bible is full of metaphors that teach about the brief,
temporary, transient nature of life on earth. Life is described as
a mist, a fast runner, a breath, and a wisp of smoke. The Bible says,
“For we were born but yesterday.... Our days on earth are as
transient as a shadow.”
1
To make the best use of your life, you must never forget two
truths: First, compared with eternity, life is extremely brief. Second, earth is only a temporary residence.


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You won’t be here
long, so don’t get too attached. Ask God to help you see life on
earth as he sees it. David prayed, “Lord, help me to realize how brief
my time on earth will be.


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Help me to know that I am here for but a
moment more.”
2
What on Earth Am I Here For? 47
       Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       


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Repeatedly the Bible compares life on earth to temporarily
living in a foreign country. This is not your permanent home or
final destination. You’re just passing through, just visiting earth. The Bible uses terms like alien, pilgrim, foreigner, stranger,
visitor, and traveler to describe our brief stay on earth. David
said, “I am but a foreigner here on earth,”
3 and Peter explained,
“If you call God your Father, live your time as temporary residents
on earth.”
4
In California, where I live, many people have moved from
other parts of the world to work here, but they keep their
citizenship with their home country. They are required to carry a
visitor registration card (called a “green card”), which allows
them to work here even though they aren’t citizens.


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Christians
should carry spiritual green cards to remind us that our
citizenship is in heaven. God says his children are to think
differently about life from the way unbelievers do.


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“All they think
about is this life here on earth. But we are citizens of heaven, where
the Lord Jesus Christ lives.”
5 Real believers understand that there is
far more to life than just the few years we live on this planet. Your identity is in eternity, and your homeland is heaven. When
you grasp this truth, you will stop worrying about “having it all”
on earth.


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God is very blunt about
the danger of living for the here and
now and adopting the values,
priorities, and lifestyles of the world
around us. When we flirt with the
temptations of this world, God calls
it spiritual adultery. The Bible says,
“You’re cheating on God. If all you want is your own way, flirting
with the world every chance you get, you end up enemies of God and
his way.”
6
Imagine if you were asked by your country to be an
ambassador to an enemy nation. You would probably have to
learn a new language and adapt to some customs and cultural
The Purpose-Driven Life 48
Your identity is in eternity, and
your homeland is heaven. Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       


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differences in order to be polite and to accomplish your mission. As an ambassador you would not be able to isolate yourself from
the enemy. To fulfill your mission, you would have to have
contact and relate to them. But suppose you became so comfortable with this foreign
country that you fell in love with it, preferring it to your
homeland. Your loyalty and commitment would
change. Your role as an ambassador would be
compromised. Instead of representing your
home country, you would start acting like the
enemy. You’d be a traitor. The Bible says, “We are Christ’s ambassadors.”
7
Sadly, many Christians have betrayed their King
and his kingdom. They have foolishly concluded that because
they live on earth, it’s their home.


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It is not. The Bible is clear:
“Friends, this world is not your home, so don’t make yourselves cozy
in it. Don’t indulge your ego at the expense of your soul.”
8 God
warns us to not get too attached to what’s around us because it is
temporary. We’re told, “Those in frequent contact with the things of
the world should make good use of them without becoming attached
to them, for this world and all it contains will pass away.”
9
Compared with other centuries, life has never been easier for
much of the Western world. We are constantly entertained,
amused, and catered to.


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With all the fascinating attractions,
mesmerizing media, and enjoyable experiences available today, it’s
easy to forget that the pursuit of happiness is not what life is
about. Only as we remember that life is a test, a trust, and a
temporary assignment will the appeal of these things lose their
grip on our lives. We are preparing for something even better.


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“The things we see now are here today, gone tomorrow. But the things
we can’t see now will last forever.”
10
The fact that earth is not our ultimate home explains why, as
followers of Jesus, we experience difficulty, sorrow, and rejection
in this world. 11 It also explains why some of God’s promises seem
What on Earth Am I Here For? 49
DAY SIX:
LIFE IS A
TEMPORARY
ASSIGNMENT 
       Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       


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unfulfilled, some prayers seem unanswered, and some
circumstances seem unfair. This is not the end of the story. In order to keep us from becoming too attached to earth, God
allows us to feel a significant amount of discontent and
dissatisfaction in life—longings that will never be fulfilled on this
side of eternity. We’re not completely happy here because we’re
not supposed to be! Earth is not our final home; we were created
for something much better. A fish would never be happy living on land, because it was
made for water. An eagle could never feel satisfied if it wasn’t
allowed to fly. You will never feel
completely satisfied on earth,
because you were made for more. You will have happy moments here,
but nothing compared with what
God has planned for you. Realizing that life on earth is just
a temporary assignment should
radically alter your values. Eternal values, not temporal ones,
should become the deciding factors for your decisions. As C.


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S. Lewis observed, “All that is not eternal is eternally useless.” The
Bible says, “We fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is
unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is
eternal.”
12
It is a fatal mistake to assume that God’s goal for your life is
material prosperity or popular success, as the world defines it. The
abundant life has nothing to do with material abundance, and
faithfulness to God does not guarantee success in a career or even
in ministry.


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Never focus on temporary crowns. 13
Paul was faithful, yet he ended up in prison. John the Baptist
was faithful, but he was beheaded. Millions of faithful people
have been martyred, have lost everything, or have come to the
end of life with nothing to show for it.


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But the end of life is not
the end! The Purpose-Driven Life 50
Earth is not our final home; 
we were created for 
something much better. Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       


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In God’s eyes, the greatest heroes of faith are not those who
achieve prosperity, success, and power in this life, but those who
treat this life as a temporary assignment and serve
faithfully, expecting their promised reward in
eternity. The Bible says this about God’s
Hall of Fame: “All these great people died in
faith. They did not get the things that God
promised his people, but they saw them coming
far in the future and were glad. They said they
were like visitors and strangers on earth. .


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. they were
waiting for a better country—a heavenly country. So God is not
ashamed to be called their God, because he has prepared a city for
them.”
14 Your time on earth is not the complete story of your life. You must wait until heaven for the rest of the chapters. It takes
faith to live on earth as a foreigner. An old story is often repeated of a retiring missionary coming
home to America on the same boat as the president of the United
States. Cheering crowds, a military band, a red carpet, banners,
and the media welcomed the president home, but the missionary
slipped off the ship unnoticed. Feeling self-pity and resentment,
he began complaining to God. Then God gently reminded him,
“But my child, you’re not home yet.”
You will not be in heaven two seconds before you cry out,
“Why did I place so much importance on things that were so
temporary? What was I thinking? Why did I waste so much time,
energy, and concern on what wasn’t going to last?”
When life gets tough, when you’re overwhelmed with doubt,
or when you wonder if living for Christ is worth the effort,
remember that you are not home yet. At death you won’t leave
home—you’ll go home.


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What on Earth Am I Here For? 51
       Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       


key: original_content
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The Purpose-Driven Life 52
Day Six
Thinking about My Purpose
Point to Ponder: This world is not my home. Verse to Remember: “So we fix our eyes not on what is
seen, but on what is unseen.


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For what is seen is temporary,
but what is unseen is eternal.” 2 Corinthians 4:18 (NIV)
Question to Consider: How should the fact that life
on earth is just a temporary assignment change the way
I am living right now? Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       


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7
The Reason for Everything
Everything comes from God alone. Everything lives by his power, 
and everything is for his glory.


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Romans 11:36 (LB)
The Lord has made everything 
for his own purposes. Proverbs 16:4 (NLT)
It’s all for him. The ultimate goal of the universe is to show the glory of God. It is the reason for everything that exists, including you. God
made it all for his glory. Without God’s glory, there would be
nothing. What is the glory of God? It is who God is. It is the essence of
his nature, the weight of his importance, the radiance of his
splendor, the demonstration of his power, and the atmosphere of
his presence. God’s glory is the expression of his goodness and all
his other intrinsic, eternal qualities. Where is the glory of God? Just look around. Everything
created by God reflects his glory in some way. We see it
everywhere, from the smallest microscopic form of life to the 
vast Milky Way, from sunsets and stars to storms and seasons.


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Creation reveals our Creator’s glory. In nature we learn that God
is powerful, that he enjoys variety, loves beauty, is organized, and
is wise and creative. The Bible says, “The heavens declare the glory
of God.”
1
Throughout history, God has revealed his glory to people in
different settings. He revealed it first in the Garden of Eden, then
to Moses, then in the tabernacle
and the temple, then through Jesus,
and now through the church. 2 It
was portrayed as a consuming fire, a
cloud, thunder, smoke, and a
brilliant light. 3 In heaven, God’s
glory provides all the light needed. The Bible says, “The city does not
need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it
light.”
4
God’s glory is best seen in Jesus Christ. He, the Light of the
world, illuminates God’s nature. Because of Jesus, we are no
longer in the dark about what God is really like. The Bible says,
“The Son is the radiance of God’s glory.”
5 Jesus came to earth so
we could fully understand God’s glory. “The Word became human
and lived among us. We saw his glory .


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. a glory full of grace and
truth.”
6
God’s inherent glory is what he possesses because he is God. It
is his nature.


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We cannot add anything to this glory, just as it
would be impossible for us to make the sun shine brighter. But
we are commanded to recognize his glory, honor his glory, declare
his glory, praise his glory, reflect his glory, and live for his glory. 7
Why?


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Because God deserves it! We owe him every honor we can
possibly give. Since God made all things, he deserves all the glory. The Bible says, “You are worthy, O Lord our God, to receive glory
and honor and power. For you created everything.”
8
In the entire universe, only two of God’s creations fail to bring
glory to him: fallen angels (demons) and us (people). All sin, at its
The Purpose-Driven Life 54
Living for God’ s glory is the
greatest achievement we can
accomplish with our lives. Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       


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root, is failing to give God glory. It is loving anything else more
than God. Refusing to bring glory to God is prideful rebellion,
and it is the sin that caused Satan’s fall—and ours, too. In
different ways we have all lived for our own glory, not God’s. The
Bible says, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
9
None of us have given God the full glory he deserves from our
lives. This is the worst sin and the biggest mistake we can make. On the other hand, living for God’s glory is the greatest
achievement we can accomplish with our lives. God says, “They
are my own people, and I created them to bring me glory,”
10 so it
ought to be the supreme goal of our lives. How Can I Bring Glory to God? Jesus told the Father, “I brought glory to you here on earth by
doing everything you told me to do.” 11 Jesus honored God by
fulfilling his purpose on earth. We honor God the same way.


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When anything in creation fulfills its purpose, it brings glory to
God. Birds bring glory to God by flying, chirping, nesting, and
doing other bird-like activities that God intended. Even the lowly
ant brings glory to God when it
fulfills the purpose it was created
for. God made ants to be ants, and
he made you to be you.


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St. Irenaeus
said, “The glory of God is a human
being fully alive!”
There are many ways to bring
glory to God, but they can be
summarized in God’s five purposes for your life. We will spend the
rest of this book looking at them in detail, but here is an overview:
We bring God glory by worshiping him. Worship is our first
responsibility to God. We worship God by enjoying him. C.


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S. Lewis said, “In commanding us to glorify him, God is inviting us
to enjoy him.” God wants our worship to be motivated by love,
thanksgiving, and delight, not duty. What on Earth Am I Here For?


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55
When anything in creation
fulfills its purpose, 
it brings glory to God. Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       


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John Piper notes, “God is most glorified in us when we are
most satisfied in him.” 
Worship is far more than praising, singing, and praying to God. Worship is a lifestyle of enjoying God, loving him, and giving
ourselves to be used for his purposes. When you use your life for
God’s glory, everything you do can become an act of worship. The Bible says, “Use your whole body as a tool to do what is right for
the glory of God.”
12
We bring God glory by loving other believers. When you
were born again, you became a part of God’s family. Following
Christ is not just a matter of believing; it also includes belonging
and learning to love the family of God. John
wrote, “Our love for each other proves that we
have gone from death to life.”
13 Paul said, “Accept
each other just as Christ has accepted you; then
God will be glorified.”
14
It is your responsibility to learn how to love as
God does, because God is love, and it honors
him. Jesus said, “As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one
another.”
15
We bring God glory by becoming like Christ. Once we are
born into God’s family, he wants us to grow to spiritual maturity.


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What does that look like? Spiritual maturity is becoming like Jesus
in the way we think, feel, and act. The more you develop
Christlike character, the more you will bring glory to God. The
Bible says, “As the Spirit of the Lord works within us, we become
more and more like him and reflect his glory even more.”
16
God gave you a new life and a new nature when you accepted
Christ.


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Now, for the rest of your life on earth, God wants to
continue the process of changing your character. The Bible says,
“May you always be filled with the fruit of your salvation—those
good things that are produced in your life by Jesus Christ—for this
will bring much glory and praise to God.”
17
The Purpose-Driven Life 56
DAY SEVEN:
THE REASON
FOR
EVERYTHING
       Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       


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We bring God glory by serving others with our gifts. Each
of us was uniquely designed by God with talents, gifts, skills, and
abilities. The way you’re “wired” is not an accident. God didn’t
give you your abilities for selfish purposes. They were given to
benefit others, just as others were given abilities for your benefit. The Bible says, “God has given gifts to each of you from his great
variety of spiritual gifts. Manage them well so that God’s generosity
can flow through you. .


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. Are you called to help others? Do it with all
the strength and energy that God supplies. Then God will be given
glory.”
18
We bring God glory by telling others about him. God
doesn’t want his love and purposes kept a secret. Once we know
the truth, he expects us to share it with others. This is a great
privilege—introducing others to Jesus, helping them discover
their purpose, and preparing them for their eternal destiny. The
Bible says, “As God’s grace brings more and more people to
Christ, . .


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. God will receive more and more glory.”
19
What Will You Live for? Living the rest of your life for the glory of God will require a
change in your priorities, your schedule, your relationships, and
everything else. It will sometimes mean choosing a difficult path
instead of an easy one.


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Even Jesus struggled with this. Knowing
he was about to be crucified, he cried out: “My soul has become
troubled; and what shall I say, ‘Father, save Me from this hour’? But
for this purpose I came to this hour. Father, glorify
Thy name.”
20
Jesus stood at a fork in the road. Would
he fulfill his purpose and bring glory to
God, or would he shrink back and live a
comfortable, self-centered life?


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You face the
same choice. Will you live for your own goals,
comfort, and pleasure, or will you live the rest of your life for
God’s glory, knowing that he has promised eternal rewards? The
What on Earth Am I Here For? 57
       Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       


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. you’ll have it forever, real and
eternal.” 21
It’s time to settle this issue. Who are you going to live for—
yourself or God? You may hesitate, wondering whether you will
have strength to live for God. Don’t worry. God will give you
what you need if you will just make the choice to live for him. The Bible says, “Everything that goes into a life of pleasing God has
been miraculously given to us by getting to know, personally and
intimately, the One who invited us to God.”
22
Right now, God is inviting you to live for his glory by fulfilling
the purposes he made you for. It’s really the only way to live.


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Everything else is just existing. Real life begins by committing
yourself completely to Jesus Christ. If you are not sure you have
done this, all you need to do is receive and believe. The Bible
promises, “To all who received him, to those who believed in his
name, he gave the right to become children of God.”
23 Will you
accept God’s offer? First, believe.


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Believe God loves you and made you for his
purposes. Believe you’re not an accident. Believe you were made
to last forever. Believe God has
chosen you to have a relationship
with Jesus, who died on the cross
for you. Believe that no matter
what you’ve done, God wants to
forgive you. Second, receive. Receive Jesus
into your life as your Lord and Savior. Receive his forgiveness for
your sins. Receive his Spirit, who will give you the power to fulfill
your life purpose. The Bible says, “Whoever accepts and trusts the
Son gets in on everything, life complete and forever!”
24 Wherever
you are reading this, I invite you to bow your head and quietly
whisper the prayer that will change your eternity: “Jesus, I believe
in you and I receive you.” Go ahead. The Purpose-Driven Life 58
Jesus will give you everything
you need to live for him. Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       


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What on Earth Am I Here For? 59
If you sincerely meant that prayer, congratulations! Welcome to
the family of God!


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You are now ready to discover and start living
God’s purpose for your life. I urge you to tell someone about it. will send you a little booklet I wrote called Your First Steps for
Spiritual Growth. Day Seven
Thinking about My Purpose
Point to Ponder: It’s all for him. Verse to Remember: “For everything comes from God
alone. Everything lives by his power, and everything is for
his glory.”  Romans 11:36 (LB)
Question to Consider: Where in my daily routine can I
become more aware of God’s glory? You’re going to need support.


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If you email me (see appendix 2), I
       Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       


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YOU WERE PLANNED 
FOR GOD’S PLEASURE
For God has planted them like strong 
and graceful oaks for his own glory. Isaiah 61:3 (LB)
PURPOSE #1
       Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       


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8
Planned for God’s Pleasure
You created everything, and it is for your
pleasure that they exist and were created. Revelation 4:11 (NLT)
The Lord takes pleasure in his people. Psalm 149:4a (TEV)
You were planned for God’s pleasure. The moment you were born into the world, God was there as
an unseen witness, smiling at your birth. He wanted you alive,
and your arrival gave him great pleasure. God did not need to
create you, but he chose to create you for his own enjoyment. You
exist for his benefit, his glory, his purpose, and his delight.


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Bringing enjoyment to God, living for his pleasure, is the first
purpose of your life. When you fully understand this truth, you
will never again have a problem with feeling insignificant.


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It
proves your worth. If you are that important to God, and he
considers you valuable enough to keep with him for eternity, what
greater significance could you have? You are a child of God, and
you bring pleasure to God like nothing else he has ever created. The Bible says, “Because of his love God had already decided that
PURPOSE #1: Y ou W ere Planned for God’ s Pleasure 63
       Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       


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through Jesus Christ he would make us his children—this was his
pleasure and purpose.” 1
One of the greatest gifts God has given you is the ability to
enjoy pleasure. He wired you with five senses and emotions so
you can experience it. He wants you to enjoy life, not just endure
it. The reason you are able to enjoy pleasure is that God made
you in his image. We often forget that God has emotions, too.


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He feels things
very deeply. The Bible tells us that God grieves, gets jealous and
angry, and feels compassion, pity, sorrow, and sympathy as well as
happiness, gladness, and satisfaction. God loves, delights, gets
pleasure, rejoices, enjoys, and even laughs! 2
Bringing pleasure to God is called “worship.” The Bible
says, “The Lord is pleased only with those who worship him and trust
his love.” 3
Anything you do that brings pleasure to God is an act of
worship. Like a diamond, worship is multifaceted.


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It would take
volumes to cover all there is to understand about worship, but we
will look at the primary aspects of worship in this section. Anthropologists have noted that worship is a universal urge,
hard-wired by God into the very fiber of our being—an inbuilt
need to connect with God. Worship is as natural as eating or
breathing. If we fail to worship God, we always find a substitute,
even if it ends up being ourselves. The reason God made us with this
desire is that he desires worshipers! Jesus said, “The Father seeks
worshipers.”
4
Depending on your religious
background, you may need to
expand your understanding of
“worship.” You may think of church services with singing,
praying, and listening to a sermon. Or you may think of
ceremonies, candles, and communion.


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Or you may think of
The Purpose-Driven Life 64
Anything you do that 
brings pleasure to God is 
an act of worship. Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       


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healing, miracles, and ecstatic experiences. Worship can include
these elements, but worship is far more than these expressions. Worship is a lifestyle. Worship is far more than music. For many people, worship is
just a synonym for music. They say, “At our church we have the
worship first, and then the teaching.” This is a big
misunderstanding. Every part of a
church service is an act of worship:
praying, Scripture reading, singing,
confession, silence, being still,
listening to a sermon, taking notes,
giving an offering, baptism,
communion, signing a commitment
card, and even greeting other worshipers. Actually, worship predates music. Adam worshiped in the
Garden of Eden, but music isn’t mentioned until Genesis 4:21
with the birth of Jubal. If worship were just music, then all who
are nonmusical could never worship.


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Worship is far more than
music. Even worse, “worship” is often misused to refer to a particular
style of music: “First we sang a hymn, then a praise and worship
song.” Or, “I like the fast praise songs but enjoy the slow worship
songs the most.” In this usage, if a song is fast or loud or uses
brass instruments, it’s considered “praise.” But if it is slow and
quiet and intimate, maybe accompanied by guitar, that’s worship. This is a common misuse of the term “worship.”
Worship has nothing to do with the style or volume or speed of
a song. God loves all kinds of music because he invented it all—
fast and slow, loud and soft, old and new. You probably don’t like
it all, but God does!


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If it is offered to God in spirit and truth, it is
an act of worship. Christians often disagree over the style of music used in
worship, passionately defending their preferred style as the most
biblical or God-honoring.


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But there is no biblical style! There are
PURPOSE #1: Y ou W ere Planned for God’ s Pleasure 65
Worship is far more 
than music. Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       


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no musical notes in the Bible; we don’t even have the instruments
they used in Bible times. Frankly, the music style you like best says more about you—
your background and personality—than it does about God. One
ethnic group’s music can sound like noise to another. But God
likes variety and enjoys it all. There is no such thing as “Christian” music; there are only
Christian lyrics. It is the words that make a song sacred, not the
tune. There are no spiritual tunes. If I played a song
for you without the words, you’d have no way of
knowing if it were a “Christian” song. Worship is not for your benefit.


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As a pastor, I
receive notes that say, “I loved the worship today. I got a lot out of it.” This is another misconception
about worship. It isn’t for our benefit!


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We worship
for God’s benefit. When we worship, our goal is to bring pleasure
to God, not ourselves. If you have ever said, “I didn’t get anything out of worship
today,” you worshiped for the wrong reason. Worship isn’t for
you.


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It’s for God. Of course, most “worship” services also include
elements of fellowship, edification, and evangelism, and there are
benefits to worship, but we don’t worship to please ourselves. Our motive is to bring glory and pleasure to our Creator. In Isaiah 29 God complains about worship that is half-hearted
and hypocritical. The people were offering God stale prayers,
insincere praise, empty words, and man-made rituals without even
thinking about the meaning. God’s heart is not touched by
tradition in worship, but by passion and commitment. The Bible
says, “These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me
with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me
is made up only of rules taught by men.”
5
Worship is not a part of your life; it is your life.


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Worship is
not just for church services. We are told to “worship him
continually” 6 and to “praise him from sunrise to sunset.”7 In the
The Purpose-Driven Life 66
DAY EIGHT:
PLANNED
FOR
GOD’S
PLEASURE
       Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       


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Bible people praised God at work, at home, in battle, in jail, 
and even in bed! Praise should be the first activity when you open
your eyes in the morning and the last activity when you close
them at night. 8 David said, “I will thank the Lord at all times. My
mouth will always praise him.” 9
Every activity can be transformed into an act of worship when
you do it for the praise, glory, and pleasure of God. The Bible
says, “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for
the glory of God.”
10 Martin Luther said, “A dairymaid can milk
cows to the glory of God.”
How is it possible to do everything to the glory of God? By
doing everything as if you were doing it for Jesus and by carrying
on a continual conversation with him while you do it. The Bible
says, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working
for the Lord, not for men.”
11
This is the secret to a lifestyle of worship—doing everything as
if you were doing it for Jesus. The Message paraphrase says,
“Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-
work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an
offering.”
12 Work becomes worship when you
dedicate it to God and perform it with an
awareness of his presence. When I first fell in love with my wife, I thought
of her constantly: while eating breakfast, driving to
school, attending class, waiting in line at the
market, pumping gas—I could not stop thinking
about this woman!


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I often talked to myself about
her and thought about all the things I loved about her. This
helped me feel close to Kay even though we lived several hundred
miles apart and attended different colleges. By constantly thinking
of her, I was abiding in her love.


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This is what real worship is all
about— falling in love with Jesus. PURPOSE #1: Y ou W ere Planned for God’ s Pleasure 67
       Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       


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Day Eight
Thinking about My Purpose
Point to Ponder: I was planned for God’s pleasure. Verse to Remember: “The Lord takes pleasure in his
people.”  Psalm 149:4a (TEV)
Question to Consider: What common task could I
start doing as if I were doing it directly for Jesus?


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The Purpose-Driven Life 68
       Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       


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. Numbers 6:25 (NLT)
Smile on me, your servant; 
teach me the right way to live. Psalm 119:135 (Msg)
The smile of God is the goal of your life. Since pleasing God is the first purpose of your life, your most
important task is to discover how to do that. The Bible says,
“Figure out what will please Christ, and then do it.”
1 Fortunately,
the Bible gives us a clear example of a life that gives pleasure to
God. The man’s name was Noah.


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In Noah’s day, the entire world had become morally bankrupt. Everyone lived for their own pleasure, not God’s. God couldn’t find
anyone on earth interested in pleasing him, so he was grieved and
regretted making man. God became so disgusted with the human
race that he considered wiping it out. But there was one man who
made God smile. The Bible says, “Noah was a pleasure to the Lord.”
2
God said, “This guy brings me pleasure. He makes me smile. I’ll start over with his family.” Because Noah brought pleasure to
PURPOSE #1: Y ou W ere Planned for God’ s Pleasure 69
       Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       


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God, you and I are alive today. From his life we learn the five acts
of worship that make God smile. God smiles when we love him supremely. Noah loved God
more than anything else in the world, even when no one else did! The Bible tells us that for his entire life, “Noah consistently
followed God’s will and enjoyed a close relationship with Him.”3
This is what God wants most from you: a relationship! It’s the
most astounding truth in the universe—that our Creator wants to
fellowship with us.


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God made you to love you, and he longs for
you to love him back. He says, “I don’t want your sacrifices—I want
your love; I don’t want your offerings—I want you to know me.”
4
Can you sense God’s passion for you in this verse? God deeply
loves you and desires your love in return. He longs for you to
know him and spend time with him. This is why learning to love
God and be loved by him should be the greatest objective of your
life. Nothing else comes close in importance. Jesus called it the
greatest commandment. He said, “Love the Lord your God with all
your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the
first and greatest commandment.”
5
God smiles when we trust him completely. The second
reason Noah pleased God was that he trusted God, even when it
didn’t make sense. The Bible says, “By faith, Noah built a ship in
the middle of dry land. He was
warned about something he couldn’t
see, and acted on what he was
told.


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. As a result, Noah became
intimate with God.”
6
Imagine this scene: One day God
comes to Noah and says, “I’m
disappointed in human beings. In the entire world, no one but
you thinks about me. But Noah, when I look at you, I start
smiling. I’m pleased with your life, so I’m going to flood the
world and start over with your family. I want you to build a giant
ship that will save you and the animals.”
The Purpose-Driven Life 70
What God wants most from 
you is a relationship. Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       


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There were three problems that could have caused Noah to
doubt. First, Noah had never seen rain, because prior to the
Flood, God irrigated the earth from the ground up.7 Second,
Noah lived hundreds of miles from the nearest ocean. Even if he
could learn to build a ship, how would he get it to water? Third,
there was the problem of rounding up all the animals
and then caring for them. But Noah didn’t
complain or make excuses. He trusted God
completely, and that made God smile. Trusting God completely means having faith
that he knows what is best for your life.


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You
expect him to keep his promises, help you with
problems, and do the impossible when necessary. The Bible says, “He takes pleasure in those that honor Him; in those
who trust in His constant love.”
8
It took Noah 120 years to build the ark. I imagine he faced
many discouraging days. With no sign of rain year after year, he
was ruthlessly criticized as a “crazy man who thinks God speaks to
him.” I imagine Noah’s children were often embarrassed by the
giant ship being built in their front yard. Yet Noah kept on
trusting God. In what areas of your life do you need to trust God completely? Trusting is an act of worship. Just as parents are pleased when
children trust their love and wisdom, your faith makes God
happy. The Bible says, “Without faith it is impossible to please
God.”
9
God smiles when we obey him wholeheartedly. Saving the
animal population from a worldwide flood required great attention
to logistics and details.


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God didn’t say, “Build any old boat you’d like,
Noah.” He gave very detailed instructions as to the size, shape,
and materials of the ark as well as the different numbers of animals
to be brought on board. The Bible tells us Noah’s response: “So
Noah did everything exactly as God had commanded him.”
10
PURPOSE #1: Y ou W ere Planned for God’ s Pleasure 71
       Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       


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Notice that Noah obeyed completely (no instruction was
overlooked), and he obeyed exactly (in the way and time God
wanted it done). That is wholeheartedness.


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It is no wonder God
smiled on Noah. If God asked you to build a giant boat, don’t you think you
might have a few questions, objections, or reservations? Noah
didn’t. He obeyed God wholeheartedly. That means doing
whatever God asks without reservation or hesitation. You don’t
procrastinate and say, “I’ll pray about it.” You do it without delay. Every parent knows that delayed obedience is really disobedience. God doesn’t owe you an explanation or reason for everything
he asks you to do. Understanding can wait, but obedience can’t. Instant obedience will teach you more about God than a lifetime
of Bible discussions. In fact, you will never understand some
commands until you obey them first. Obedience unlocks
understanding. Often we try to offer God partial obedience.


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We want to pick
and choose the commands we obey. We make a list of the
commands we like and obey those while ignoring the ones we
think are unreasonable, difficult, expensive, or unpopular. I’ll
attend church but I won’t tithe.


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Wholehearted obedience is done
joyfully, with enthusiasm. The Bible
says, “Obey him gladly.”
11 This is
the attitude of David: “Just tell me
what to do and I will do it, Lord. As long as I live I’ll wholeheartedly
obey.”
12
James, speaking to Christians, said, “We please God by what we
do and not only by what we believe.” 13 God’s Word is clear that you
can’t earn your salvation. It comes only by grace, not your effort. But as a child of God you can bring pleasure to your heavenly
The Purpose-Driven Life 72
Trusting God completely 
means having faith that he
knows what is best for your life. Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       


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Father through obedience. Any act of obedience is also an act of
worship. Why is obedience so pleasing to God? Because it proves
you really love him. Jesus said, “If you love me, you will obey my
commandments.”
14
God smiles when we praise and thank him continually. Few
things feel better than receiving heartfelt praise and appreciation
from someone else. God loves it, too.


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He smiles when we express
our adoration and gratitude to him. Noah’s life brought pleasure to God because he lived with a
heart of praise and thanksgiving. Noah’s first act after surviving
the Flood was to express his thanks to God by offering a sacrifice. The Bible says, “Then Noah built an altar to the Lord .


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. and
sacrificed burnt offerings on it.”
15
Because of Jesus’ sacrifice, we don’t offer animal sacrifices as
Noah did. Instead we are told to offer God “the sacrifice of
praise” 16 and “the sacrifice of thanksgiving.”17 We praise God for
who he is, and we thank God for what he has done. David said, “I
will praise God’s name in song and glorify him with thanksgiving. This will please the Lord.”
18
An amazing thing happens when we offer praise and
thanksgiving to God. When we give God enjoyment, our own
hearts are filled with joy! My mother loved to cook for me. Even after I married Kay,
when we would visit my parents, Mom prepared incredible home-
cooked feasts. One of her great pleasures in life was watching us
kids eat and enjoy what she prepared. The more we enjoyed
eating it, the more enjoyment it gave her. But we also enjoyed pleasing Mom by expressing our
enjoyment of her meal. It worked both ways. As I would eat the
great meal, I would rave about it and praise my mother. I
intended not only to enjoy the food but to please my mother. Everyone was happy.


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Worship works both ways, too. We enjoy what God has done
for us, and when we express that enjoyment to God, it brings him
PURPOSE #1: Y ou W ere Planned for God’ s Pleasure 73
       Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       


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joy—but it also increases our joy. The book of Psalms says, “The
righteous are glad and rejoice in his presence; they are happy and
shout for joy.”19
God smiles when we use our abilities. After the Flood, God
gave Noah these simple instructions: ‘‘Be fruitful and increase in
number and fill the earth. .


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. Everything that lives and moves will
be food for you. Just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you
everything.”
20
God said, “It’s time to get on with your life! Do the things I
designed humans to do.


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Be humans! This is what
I made you to be!”
You may feel that the only time God is pleased with you is
when you’re doing “spiritual” activities—like reading the Bible,
attending church, praying, or
sharing your faith. And you may
think God is unconcerned about
the other parts of your life. Actually,
God enjoys watching every detail of
your life, whether you are working,
playing, resting, or eating. He
doesn’t miss a single move you make. The Bible tells us, “The steps
of the godly are directed by the Lord. He delights in every detail of
their lives.”
21
Every human activity, except sin, can be done for God’s
pleasure if you do it with an attitude of praise. You can wash
dishes, repair a machine, sell a product, write a computer
program, grow a crop, and raise a family for the glory of God. Like a proud parent, God especially enjoys watching you use
the talents and abilities he has given you. God intentionally
gifted us differently for his enjoyment. He has made some to be
athletic and some to be analytical. You may be gifted at
mechanics or mathematics or music or a thousand other skills. All these abilities can bring a smile to God’s face. The Bible
The Purpose-Driven Life 74
God enjoys watching 
every detail of your life. Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       


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says, “He has shaped each person in turn; now he watches
everything we do.” 22
You don’t bring glory or pleasure to God by hiding your
abilities or by trying to be someone else. You only bring him
enjoyment by being you. Anytime you reject any part of
yourself, you are rejecting God’s wisdom and
sovereignty in creating you. God says, “You have no
right to argue with your Creator. You are merely a clay pot
shaped by a potter. The clay doesn’t ask, ‘Why did you make
me this way?’”
23
In the film Chariots of Fire, Olympic runner Eric
Liddell says, “I believe God made me for a purpose, but
he also made me fast, and when I run, I feel God’s pleasure.”
Later he says, “To give up running would be to hold him in
contempt.” There are no unspiritual abilities, just misused ones. Start using yours for God’s pleasure.


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God also gains pleasure in watching you enjoy his creation. He
gave you eyes to enjoy beauty, ears to enjoy sounds, your nose
and taste buds to enjoy smells and tastes, and the nerves under
your skin to enjoy touch. Every act of enjoyment becomes an act
of worship when you thank God for it. In fact, the Bible says,
“God .


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. generously gives us everything for our enjoyment.”
24
God even enjoys watching you sleep! When my children were
small, I remember the deep satisfaction of watching them sleep. Sometimes the day had been filled with problems and
disobedience, but asleep they looked contented, secure, and
peaceful, and I was reminded of how much I love them. My children didn’t have to do anything for me to enjoy them. I
was happy to just watch them breathing, because I loved them so
much. As their little chests would rise and fall, I’d smile, and
sometimes tears of joy filled my eyes. When you are sleeping, God
gazes at you with love, because you were his idea. He loves you as
if you were the only person on earth. PURPOSE #1: Y ou W ere Planned for God’ s Pleasure 75
DAY NINE:
WHAT
MAKES
GOD
SMILE? Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       


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The Purpose-Driven Life 76
Parents do not require their children to be perfect, or even
mature, in order to enjoy them. They enjoy them at every stage of
development. In the same way, God doesn’t wait for you to reach
maturity before he starts liking you. He loves and enjoys you at
every stage of your spiritual development. You may have had unpleasable teachers or parents as you were
growing up.


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Please don’t assume God feels that way about you. He knows you are incapable of being perfect or sinless. The Bible
says, “He certainly knows what we are made of. He bears in mind
that we are dust.”
25
What God looks at is the attitude of your heart: Is pleasing him
your deepest desire? This was Paul’s life goal: “More than anything
else, however, we want to please him, whether in our home here or
there.”
26 When you live in light of eternity, your focus changes
from “How much pleasure am I getting out of life?” to “How
much pleasure is God getting out of my life?”
God is looking for people like Noah in the twenty-first century—
people willing to live for the pleasure of God. The Bible says,
“The Lord looks down from heaven on all mankind to see if there are
any who are wise, who want to please God.”
27
Will you make pleasing God the goal of your life?


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There is
nothing that God won’t do for the person totally absorbed with
this goal. Day Nine
Thinking about My Purpose
Point to Ponder: God smiles when I trust him. Verse to Remember: “The Lord is pleased with those who
worship him and trust his love.”  Psalm 147:11 (CEV)
Question to Consider: Since God knows what is best,
in what areas of my life do I need to trust him most? Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       


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. Surrender your whole being to him 
to be used for righteous purposes. Romans 6:13 (TEV)
The heart of worship is surrender. Surrender is an unpopular word, disliked almost as much as the
word submission.


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It implies losing, and no one wants to be a loser. Surrender evokes the unpleasant images of admitting defeat in
battle, forfeiting a game, or yielding to a stronger opponent. The
word is almost always used in a negative context. Captured
criminals surrender to authorities. In today’s competitive culture we are taught to never give up
and never give in—so we don’t hear much about surrendering. If
winning is everything, surrendering is unthinkable. We would
rather talk about winning, succeeding, overcoming, and
conquering than yielding, submitting, obeying, and surrendering. But surrendering to God is the heart of worship. It is the natural
response to God’s amazing love and mercy. We give ourselves to
him, not out of fear or duty, but in love, “because he first loved us.”
1
PURPOSE #1: Y ou W ere Planned for God’ s Pleasure 77
       Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       


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After spending eleven chapters of the book of Romans
explaining God’s incredible grace to us, Paul urges us to fully
surrender our lives to God in worship: “So then, my friends,
because of God’s great mercy to us . .


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. offer yourselves as a living
sacrifice to God, dedicated to his service and pleasing to him. This 
is the true worship that you should offer.”
2
True worship—bringing God pleasure—happens when you
give yourself completely to God. Notice the first and last words of
that verse are the same: offer. Offering yourself to God is what worship is all about. This act of personal surrender is called many things: consecration,
making Jesus your Lord, taking up your cross, dying to self,
yielding to the Spirit. What matters
is that you do it, not what you call it.


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Ninety-five percent is not enough. There are three barriers that
block our total surrender to God:
fear, pride, and confusion. We don’t
realize how much God loves us, we want to control our own lives,
and we misunderstand the meaning of surrender. Can I trust God? Trust is an essential ingredient to surrender. You won’t surrender to God unless you trust him, but you can’t
trust him until you know him better. Fear keeps us from
surrendering, but love casts out all fear. The more you realize how
much God loves you, the easier surrender becomes. How do you know God loves you? He gives you many
evidences: God says he loves you;
3 you’re never out of his sight;4
he cares about every detail of your life;5 he gave you the capacity
to enjoy all kinds of pleasure;6 he has good plans for your life;7 he
forgives you;8 and he is lovingly patient with you.9 God loves you
infinitely more than you can imagine. The greatest expression of this is the sacrifice of God’s Son for
you. “God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners
The Purpose-Driven Life 78
Offering yourself to God is 
what worship is all about. Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       


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Christ died for us.”10 If you want to know how much you matter to
God, look at Christ with his arms outstretched on the cross, saying,
“I love you this much! I’d rather die than live without you.”
God is not a cruel slave driver or a bully who uses brute force
to coerce us into submission. He doesn’t try to break our will,
but woos us to himself so that we might offer ourselves freely to
him. God is a lover and a liberator, and surrendering to him
brings freedom, not bondage. When we completely surrender
ourselves to Jesus, we discover that he is not a tyrant, but a savior;
not a boss, but a brother; not a dictator, but a friend. Admitting our limitations. A second barrier to total
surrender is our pride. We don’t want to admit that we’re just
creatures and not in charge of everything. It is the oldest
temptation: “You’ll be like God!”
11 That desire—to have complete
control—is the cause of so much stress in our lives. Life is a
struggle, but what most people don’t realize is that our struggle,
like Jacob’s, is really a struggle with God! We want to be God,
and there’s no way we are going to win that struggle.


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W. Tozer said, “The reason why many are still troubled, still
seeking, still making little forward progress is because they
haven’t yet come to the end of themselves. We’re still
trying to give orders, and interfering with God’s
work within us.” 
We aren’t God and never will be. We are humans. It is when we try to be God that we end up most like
Satan, who desired the same thing. We accept our humanity intellectually, but not
emotionally.


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When faced with our own limitations,
we react with irritation, anger, and resentment. We want to be
taller (or shorter), smarter, stronger, more talented, more
beautiful, and wealthier. We want to have it all and do it all, and
we become upset when it doesn’t happen. Then when we notice
that God gave others characteristics we don’t have, we respond
with envy, jealousy, and self-pity. PURPOSE #1: Y ou W ere Planned for God’ s Pleasure 79
DAY TEN:
THE
HEART
OF
WORSHIP
       Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       


key: original_content
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What it means to surrender. Surrendering to God is not
passive resignation, fatalism, or an excuse for laziness. It is not
accepting the status quo. It may mean the exact opposite:
sacrificing your life or suffering in order to change what needs to
be changed. God often calls surrendered people to do battle on
his behalf. Surrendering is not for cowards or doormats. Likewise, it does not mean giving up rational
thinking. God would not waste the mind he gave
you! God does not want robots to serve him. Surrendering is not repressing your personality. God wants to use your unique personality. Rather
than its being diminished, surrendering
enhances it. C.


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S. Lewis observed, “The more
we let God take us over, the more truly ourselves we
become—because he made us. He invented all the different
people that you and I were intended to be.


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. It is when I turn to
Christ, when I give up myself to His personality, that I first begin
to have a real personality of my own.”
Surrendering is best demonstrated in obedience. You say “yes,
Lord” to whatever he asks of you.


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To say “no, Lord” is to speak a
contradiction. You can’t call Jesus your Lord when you refuse to
obey him. After a night of failed fishing, Simon modeled surrender
when Jesus told him to try again: “Master, we’ve worked hard all
night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let
down the nets.”
12 Surrendered people obey God’s word, even if it
doesn’t make sense. Another aspect of a fully surrendered life is trust. Abraham
followed God’s leading without knowing where it would take him. Hannah waited for God’s perfect timing without knowing when. Mary expected a miracle without knowing how. Joseph trusted
God’s purpose without knowing why circumstances happened the
way they did. Each of these people were fully surrendered to God. You know you’re surrendered to God when you rely on God to
work things out instead of trying to manipulate others, force your
The Purpose-Driven Life 80
       Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       


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agenda, and control the situation. You let go and let God work. You don’t have to always be “in charge.” The Bible says,
“Surrender yourself to the Lord, and wait patiently for him.”13
Instead of trying harder, you trust more. You also know you’re
surrendered when you don’t react to criticism and rush to defend
yourself. Surrendered hearts show up best in relationships. You
don’t edge others out, you don’t demand your rights, and you
aren’t self-serving when you’re surrendered. The most difficult area to surrender for many people is their
money. Many have thought, “I want to live for God but I also
want to earn enough money to live comfortably and retire
someday.” Retirement is not the goal of a surrendered life,
because it competes with God for the primary attention of our
lives. Jesus said, “You cannot serve both God and money”
14 and
“Wherever your treasure is, your heart will be also.”15
The supreme example of self-surrender is Jesus. The night
before his crucifixion Jesus surrendered himself to God’s plan.


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    "How does the excerpt characterize relationships when one is surrendered?"
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Please take this cup of
suffering away from me. Yet I want
your will, not mine.”
16
Jesus didn’t pray, “God, if you’re
able to take away this pain, please
do so.” He had already affirmed
that God can do anything! Instead he prayed, “God, if it is in your
best interest to remove this suffering, please do so. But if it fulfills
your purpose, that’s what I want, too.” 
Genuine surrender says, “Father, if this problem, pain, sickness,
or circumstance is needed to fulfill your purpose and glory in my
life or in another’s, please don’t take it away.” This level of
maturity does not come easy. In Jesus’ case, he agonized so much
over God’s plan that he sweat drops of blood. Surrender is hard
work.


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In our case, it is intense warfare against our self-centered
nature. PURPOSE #1: Y ou W ere Planned for God’ s Pleasure 81
Surrender is best demonstrated
in obedience and trust. Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       


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The blessing of surrender. The Bible is crystal clear about
how you benefit when you fully surrender your life to God. First,
you experience peace: “Stop quarreling with God! If you agree with
him, you will have peace at last, and things will go well for you.” 17
Next, you experience freedom: “Offer yourselves to the ways of God
and the freedom never quits. .


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. [his] commands set you free to live
openly in his freedom!”
18 Third, you experience God’s power in
your life. Stubborn temptations and overwhelming problems can
be defeated by Christ when given to him. As Joshua approached the biggest battle of his life,
19 he
encountered God, fell in worship before him, and surrendered his
plans. That surrender led to a stunning victory at Jericho. This is
the paradox: Victory comes through surrender. Surrender doesn’t
weaken you; it strengthens you. Surrendered to God, you don’t
have to fear or surrender to anything else. William Booth,
founder of the Salvation Army, said, “The greatness of a man’s
power is in the measure of his surrender.”
Surrendered people are the ones God uses. God chose Mary to
be the mother of Jesus, not because she was talented or wealthy
or beautiful, but because she was totally surrendered to him. When the angel explained God’s improbable plan, she calmly
responded, “I am the Lord’s servant, and I am willing to accept
whatever he wants.”
20 Nothing is more powerful than a
surrendered life in the hands of God. “So give yourselves completely
to God.” 21
The best way to live.


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Everybody eventually surrenders to
something or someone. If not to God, you will surrender to the
opinions or expectations of others, to money, to resentment, to
fear, or to your own pride, lusts, or ego. You were designed to
worship God—and if you fail to worship him, you will create
other things (idols) to give your life to. You are free to choose
what you surrender to, but you are not free from the
consequences of that choice.


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E. Stanley Jones said, “If you don’t
surrender to Christ, you surrender to chaos.”
The Purpose-Driven Life 82
       Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       


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All other approaches lead to frustration,
disappointment, and self-destruction. The King James Version calls
surrender “your reasonable
service.”
22 Another version translates
it “the most sensible way to serve
God.”23 Surrendering your life is not
a foolish emotional impulse but a
rational, intelligent act, the most
responsible and sensible thing you
can do with your life. That is why
Paul said, “So we make it our goal to please him.”
24 Your wisest
moments will be those when you say yes to God.


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Sometimes it takes years, but eventually you discover that the
greatest hindrance to God’s blessing in your life is not others, it is
yourself—your self-will, stubborn pride, and personal ambition. You cannot fulfill God’s purposes for your life while focusing on
your own plans. If God is going to do his deepest work in you, it will begin with
this. So give it all to God: your past regrets, your present problems,
your future ambitions, your fears, dreams, weaknesses, habits, hurts,
and hang-ups. Put Jesus Christ in the driver’s seat of your life and
take your hands off the steering wheel. Don’t be afraid; nothing
under his control can ever be out of control. Mastered by Christ,
you can handle anything. You will be like Paul: “I am ready for
anything and equal to anything through Him who infuses inner
strength into me, that is, I am self-sufficient in Christ’s sufficiency.”
25
Paul’s moment of surrender occurred on the Damascus road
after he was knocked down by a blinding light. For others, God
gets our attention with less drastic methods. Regardless,
surrendering is never just a one-time event. Paul said, “I die
daily.”
26 There is a moment of surrender, and there is the practice
of surrender, which is moment-by-moment and lifelong. The
problem with a living sacrifice is that it can crawl off the altar, so
PURPOSE #1: Y ou W ere Planned for God’ s Pleasure 83
Surrender is not the best way 
to live; it is the only way to live. Nothing else works.


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The Purpose-Driven Life 84
you may have to resurrender your life fifty times a day. You must
make it a daily habit. Jesus said, “If people want to follow me, they
must give up the things they want. They must be willing to give up
their lives daily to follow me.”
27
Let me warn you: When you decide to live a totally
surrendered life, that decision will be tested. Sometimes it will
mean doing inconvenient, unpopular, costly, or seemingly
impossible tasks.


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It will often mean doing the opposite of what
you feel like doing. One of the great Christian leaders of the twentieth century was Bill
Bright, the founder of Campus Crusade for Christ. Through Crusade
staff around the world, the Four Spiritual Laws tract, and the Jesus
film (seen by over four billion people), more than 150 million people
have come to Christ and will spend eternity in heaven. I once asked Bill, “Why did God use and bless your life so
much?” He said, “When I was a young man, I made a contract with
God. I literally wrote it out and signed my name at the bottom. It
said, ‘From this day forward, I am a slave of Jesus Christ.’”
Have you ever signed a contract like that with God? Or are you
still arguing and struggling with God over his right to do with
your life as he pleases?


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Now is your time to surrender—to God’s
grace, love, and wisdom. Day Ten
Thinking about My Purpose
Point to Ponder: The heart of worship is surrender. Verse to Remember: “Surrender your whole being to
him to be used for righteous purposes.”
Romans 6:13b (TEV)
Question to Consider: What area of my life am I
holding back from God? Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       


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11
Becoming Best Friends 
with God
Since we were restored to friendship with 
God by the death of his Son while we were 
still his enemies, we will certainly be delivered
from eternal punishment by his life. Romans 5:10 (NLT)
God wants to be your best friend. Your relationship to God has many different aspects: God is
your Creator and Maker, Lord and Master, Judge, Redeemer,
Father, Savior, and much more.


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1 But the most shocking truth is
this: Almighty God yearns to be your Friend! In Eden we see God’s ideal relationship with us: Adam and Eve
enjoyed an intimate friendship with God. There were no rituals,
ceremonies, or religion—just a simple loving relationship between
God and the people he created. Unhindered by guilt or fear,
Adam and Eve delighted in God, and he delighted in them. We were made to live in God’s continual presence, but after
the Fall, that ideal relationship was lost.


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Only a few people in
Old Testament times had the privilege of friendship with God. Moses and Abraham were called “friends of God,” David was
PURPOSE #1: Y ou W ere Planned for God’ s Pleasure 85
       Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       


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called “a man after [God’s] own heart,” and Job, Enoch, and
Noah had intimate friendships with God. 2 But fear of God, not
friendship, was more common in the Old Testament.


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Then Jesus changed the situation. When he paid for our sins on
the cross, the veil in the temple that symbolized our separation
from God was split from top to bottom, indicating that direct
access to God was once again available. Unlike the Old Testament priests who had to spend hours
preparing to meet him, we can now approach God anytime. The
Bible says, “Now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship
with God—all because of what our Lord Jesus Christ
has done for us in making us friends of God.”
3
Friendship with God is possible only because of
the grace of God and the sacrifice of Jesus. “All this
is done by God, who through Christ changed us from
enemies into his friends.”
4 The old hymn says,
“What a friend we have in Jesus,” but actually, God
invites us to enjoy friendship and fellowship with all three persons
of the Trinity: our Father,
5 the Son,6 and the Holy Spirit.7
Jesus said, “I no longer call you servants, because a servant does
not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for
everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to
you.”
8 The word for friend in this verse does not mean a casual
acquaintance but a close, trusted relationship.


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The same word is
used to refer to the best man at a wedding
9 and a king’s inner
circle of intimate, trusted friends. In royal courts, servants must
keep their distance from the king, but the inner circle of trusted
friends enjoy close contact, direct access, and confidential
information. That God would want me for a close friend is hard to
understand, but the Bible says, “He is a God who is passionate
about his relationship with you.”
10
God deeply desires that we know him intimately. In fact, he
planned the universe and orchestrated history, including the details
The Purpose-Driven Life 86
DAY ELEVEN:
BECOMING
BEST
FRIENDS
WITH GOD
       Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       


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of our lives, so that we could become his friends. The Bible says,
“He made the entire human race and made the earth hospitable,
with plenty of time and space for living so we could seek after God,
and not just grope around in the dark but actually find him.”
11
Knowing and loving God is our greatest privilege, and being
known and loved is God’s greatest pleasure. God says, “If any
want to boast, they should boast that they know and understand
me.


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. These are the things that please me.”
12
It’s difficult to imagine how an intimate friendship is possible
between an omnipotent, invisible, perfect God and a finite, sinful
human being. It’s easier to understand a Master-servant
relationship or a Creator-creation relationship or even Father-
child. But what does it mean when God wants me as a friend? By
looking at the lives of God’s friends in the Bible, we learn six
secrets of friendship with God. We will look at two secrets in this
chapter and four more in the next. Becoming a Best Friend of God
Through constant conversation. You will never grow a close
relationship with God by just attending church once a week or
even having a daily quiet time. Friendship with God is built by
sharing all your life experiences
with him. Of course, it is important to
establish the habit of a daily
devotional time with God,
13 but he
wants more than an appointment in
your schedule. He wants to be
included in every activity, every
conversation, every problem, and
even every thought. You can carry on a continuous, open-ended
conversation with him throughout your day, talking with him
about whatever you are doing or thinking at that moment. “Praying without ceasing”
14 means conversing with God while
PURPOSE #1: Y ou W ere Planned for God’ s Pleasure 87
Knowing and loving God 
is our greatest privilege, 
and being known and loved 
is God’ s greatest pleasure. Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       


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shopping, driving, working, or performing any other everyday
tasks. A common misconception is that “spending time with God”
means being alone with him. Of course, as Jesus modeled, you
need time alone with God, but that is only a fraction of your
waking hours. Everything you do can be “spending time with
God” if he is invited to be a part of it and you stay aware of his
presence. The classic book on learning how to develop a constant
conversation with God is Practicing the Presence of God. It was
written in the seventeenth century by Brother Lawrence, a
humble cook in a French monastery.


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Brother Lawrence was able
to turn even the most commonplace and menial tasks, like
preparing meals and washing dishes, into acts of praise and
communion with God. The key to friendship with God, he said, is
not changing what you do, but changing your attitude toward
what you do. What you normally do for yourself you begin doing
for God, whether it is eating, bathing, working, relaxing, or
taking out the trash. Today we often feel we must “get away” from our daily routine
in order to worship God, but that is only because we haven’t
learned to practice his presence all the time. Brother Lawrence
found it easy to worship God through the common tasks of life;
he didn’t have to go away for special spiritual retreats.


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This is God’s ideal. In Eden, worship was not an event to
attend, but a perpetual attitude; Adam and Eve were in constant
communion with God. Because God is with you all the time, no
place is any closer to God than the place where you are right now. The Bible says, “He rules everything and is everywhere and is in
everything.”
15
Another of Brother Lawrence’s helpful ideas was to pray
shorter conversational prayers continually through the day rather
than trying to pray long sessions of complex prayers. To maintain
focus and counteract wandering thoughts, he said, “I do not
The Purpose-Driven Life 88
       Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       


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advise you to use a great multiplicity of words in prayer, since
long discourses are often the occasions for wandering.”16 In an
age of attention deficit, this 450-year-old suggestion to keep it
simple seems to be particularly
relevant. The Bible tells us to “pray all the
time.”
17 How is it possible to do
this? One way is to use “breath
prayers” throughout the day, as
many Christians have done for
centuries. You choose a brief
sentence or a simple phrase that can
be repeated to Jesus in one breath: “You are with me.” “I receive
your grace.” “I’m depending on you.” “I want to know you.” “I
belong to you.” “Help me trust you.” You can also use a short
phrase of Scripture: “For me to live is Christ.” “You will never
leave me.” “You are my God.” Pray it as often as possible so it is
rooted deep in your heart. Just be sure that your motive is to
honor God, not control him.


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Practicing the presence of God is a skill, a habit you can
develop. Just as musicians practice scales every day in order to
play beautiful music with ease, you must force yourself to think
about God at different times in your day. You must train your
mind to remember God. At first you will need to create reminders to regularly bring
your thoughts back to the awareness that God is with you in that
moment. Begin by placing visual reminders around you. You
might post little notes that say, “God is with me and for me right
now!” Benedictine monks use the hourly chimes of a clock to
remind them to pause and pray “the hour prayer.” If you have a
watch or cell phone with an alarm, you could do the same. Sometimes you will sense God’s presence; other times you won’t.


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If you are seeking an experience of his presence through all of
this, you have missed the point. We don’t praise God to feel
PURPOSE #1: Y ou W ere Planned for God’ s Pleasure 89
Everything you do can be
“spending time with God” if he 
is invited to be a part of it and
you stay aware of his presence. Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       


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good, but to do good. Your goal is not a feeling, but a continual
awareness of the reality that God is always present. That is the
lifestyle of worship.


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Through continual meditation. A second way to establish a
friendship with God is by thinking about his Word throughout
your day. This is called meditation, and the Bible
repeatedly urges us to meditate on who God is,
what he has done, and what he has said.18
It is impossible to be God’s friend apart from
knowing what he says. You can’t love God unless
you know him, and you can’t know him without
knowing his Word. The Bible says God “revealed
himself to Samuel through his word.” 19 God still uses that
method today. While you cannot spend all day studying the Bible, you can
think about it throughout the day, recalling verses you have read
or memorized and mulling them over in your mind. Meditation is often misunderstood as some difficult, mysterious
ritual practiced by isolated monks and mystics. But meditation is
simply focused thinking—a skill anyone can learn and use
anywhere. When you think about a problem over and over in your mind,
that’s called worry. When you think about God’s Word over and
over in your mind, that’s meditation. If you know how to worry,
you already know how to meditate! You just need to switch your
attention from your problems to Bible verses.


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The more you
meditate on God’s Word, the less you will have to worry about. The reason God considered Job and David his close friends was
that they valued his Word above everything else, and they
thought about it continually throughout the day. Job admitted, 
“I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my daily
bread.”
20 David said, “Oh, how I love your law!


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I meditate on it all
day long.” 21 “They are constantly in my thoughts. I cannot stop
thinking about them.” 22
The Purpose-Driven Life 90
       Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       


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PURPOSE #1: Y ou W ere Planned for God’ s Pleasure 91
Friends share secrets, and God will share his secrets with you if
you develop the habit of thinking about his Word throughout the
day. God told Abraham his secrets, and he did the same with
Daniel, Paul, the disciples, and other friends. 23
When you read your Bible or hear a sermon or listen to a tape,
don’t just forget it and walk away. Develop the practice of
reviewing the truth in your mind, thinking about it over and over. The more time you spend reviewing what God has said, the more
you will understand the “secrets” of this life that most people
miss. The Bible says, “Friendship with God is reserved for those who
reverence him. With them alone he shares the secrets of his
promises.”
24
In the next chapter we will see four more secrets of cultivating
a friendship with God, but don’t wait until tomorrow. Start
today by practicing constant conversation with God and
continual meditation on his Word.


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Both are essential to becoming
a friend of God. Day Eleven
Thinking about My Purpose
Point to Ponder: God wants to be my best friend. Verse to Remember: “Friendship with God is reserved
for those who reverence him.” Psalm 25:14a (LB)
Question to Consider: What can I do to remind
myself to think about God and talk to him more often
throughout the day? Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       


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12
Developing Y our Friendship 
with God
He offers his friendship to the godly. Proverbs 3:32 (NLT)
Draw close to God, and God 
will draw close to you. James 4:8 (NLT)
You are as close to God as you choose to be. Like any friendship, you must work at developing your
friendship with God.


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It won’t happen by accident. It takes desire,
time, and energy. If you want a deeper, more intimate connection
with God you must learn to honestly share your feelings with
him, trust him when he asks you to do something, learn to care
about what he cares about, and desire his friendship more than
anything else. I must choose to be honest with God. The first building
block of a deeper friendship with God is complete honesty—
about your faults and your feelings. God doesn’t expect you to
be perfect, but he does insist on complete honesty.


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None of
God’s friends in the Bible were perfect. If perfection was a
requirement for friendship with God, we would never be able to
The Purpose-Driven Life 92
       Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       


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be his friends. Fortunately, because of God’s grace, Jesus is still
the “friend of sinners.” 1
In the Bible, the friends of God were honest about their
feelings, often complaining, second-guessing, accusing, and
arguing with their Creator. God, however, didn’t seem to be
bothered by this frankness; in fact, he encouraged it. God allowed Abraham to question and challenge him over the
destruction of the city of Sodom. Abraham pestered God over
what it would take to spare the city, negotiating God down from
fifty righteous people to only ten. God also listened patiently to David’s many accusations of
unfairness, betrayal, and abandonment. God did not slay Jeremiah
when he claimed that God had tricked him. Job was allowed to
vent his bitterness during his ordeal, and in the end, God
defended Job for being honest, and he rebuked Job’s friends for
being inauthentic. God told them, “You haven’t been honest either
with me or about me—not the way my friend Job has. .


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. My friend
Job will now pray for you and I will accept his prayer.”
2
In one startling example of frank friendship,3 God honestly
expressed his total disgust with Israel’s disobedience. He told
Moses he would keep his promise to give the Israelites the
Promised Land, but he wasn’t going one step farther with them in
the desert! God was fed up, and he
let Moses know exactly how he felt. Moses, speaking as a “friend” of
God, responded with equal candor:
“‘Look, you tell me to lead this people
but you don’t let me know whom
you’re going to send with me. .


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. If
I’m so special to you, let me in on
your plans. . . . Don’t forget, this is YOUR people, your
responsibility.... I f  y o u r  p resence doesn’t take the lead here, call this
trip off right now! How else will I know that you’re with me in this,
with me and your people? Are you traveling with us or not? .


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. .’ God
PURPOSE #1: Y ou W ere Planned for God’ s Pleasure 93
God doesn’ t expect you to be
perfect, but he does insist on
complete honesty. Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       


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said to Moses, ‘All right. Just as you say; this also I will do, for I know
you well and you are special to me.’”4
Can God handle that kind of frank, intense honesty from you? Absolutely!


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Genuine friendship is built on disclosure. What may
appear as audacity God views as authenticity. God listens to the
passionate words of his friends; he is bored with predictable, pious
clichés. To be God’s friend, you must be honest to God, sharing
your true feeling, not what you
think you ought to feel or say. It is likely that you need to
confess some hidden anger and
resentment at God for certain areas
of your life where you have felt
cheated or disappointed. Until we
mature enough to understand that God uses everything for good
in our lives, we harbor resentment toward God over our
appearance, background, unanswered prayers, past hurts, and
other things we would change if we were God. People often
blame God for hurts caused by others. This creates what William
Backus calls “your hidden rift with God.”
Bitterness is the greatest barrier to friendship with God: Why
would I want to be God’s friend if he allowed this? The antidote,
of course, is to realize that God always acts in your best interest,
even when it is painful and you don’t understand it.


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But releasing
your resentment and revealing your feeling is the first step to
healing. As so many people in the Bible did, tell God exactly how
you feel. 5
To instruct us in candid honesty, God gave us the book of
Psalms—a worship manual, full of ranting, raving, doubts, fears,
resentments, and deep passions combined with thanksgiving,
praise, and statements of faith. Every possible emotion is
catalogued in the Psalms.


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When you read the emotional
confessions of David and others, realize this is how God wants you
to worship him—holding back nothing of what you feel. You can
The Purpose-Driven Life 94
Bitterness is the greatest barrier
to friendship with God. Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       


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pray like David: “I pour out my complaints before him and tell him
all my troubles. For I am overwhelmed.” 6
It’s encouraging to know that all of God’s closest friends—
Moses, David, Abraham, Job, and others—had bouts with doubt. But instead of masking their misgivings with pious clichés, they
candidly voiced them openly and publicly.


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Expressing doubt is
sometimes the first step toward the next level of intimacy with
God. I must choose to obey God in faith.


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Every time you trust
God’s wisdom and do whatever he says, even when you don’t
understand it, you deepen your friendship with God. We don’t
normally think of obedience as a characteristic of friendship; that’s
reserved for relationships with a parent or the boss or a superior
officer, not a friend. However, Jesus made it clear that obedience
is a condition of intimacy with God. He said, “You are my friends
if you do what I command.”
7
In the last chapter I pointed out that the word Jesus used when
he called us “friends” could refer to the “friends of the king” in a
royal court. While these close companions had special privileges,
they were still subject to the king and had to obey his commands. We are friends with God, but we are not his equals. He is our
loving leader, and we follow him. We obey God, not out of duty or fear or compulsion, but
because we love him and trust that he knows what is best for us. We want to follow Christ out of gratitude for all
he has done for us, and the closer we follow
him, the deeper our friendship becomes. Unbelievers often think Christians obey out of
obligation or guilt or fear of punishment, but
the opposite is true. Because we have been
forgiven and set free, we obey out of love—and
our obedience brings great joy! Jesus said, “I have loved you even
as the Father has loved me.


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Remain in my love. When you obey me,
you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father and remain in his
PURPOSE #1: Y ou W ere Planned for God’ s Pleasure 95
DAY TWELVE:
DEVELOPING
YOUR
FRIENDSHIP
WITH GOD
       Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       


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I have told you this so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes,
your joy will overflow!” 8
Notice that Jesus expects us to do only what he did with the
Father. His relationship with his Father is the model for our
friendship with him. Jesus did whatever the Father asked him to
do—out of love. True friendship isn’t passive; it acts. When Jesus asks us to love
others, help the needy, share our resources, keep our lives clean,
offer forgiveness, and bring others to him, love motivates us to
obey immediately. We are often challenged to do “great things” for God.


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Actually,
God is more pleased when we do small things for him out of
loving obedience. They may be unnoticed by others, but God
notices them and considers them acts of worship. Great opportunities may come once in a lifetime, but small
opportunities surround us every day. Even through such simple
acts as telling the truth, being kind, and encouraging others, we
bring a smile to God’s face. God treasures simple acts of
obedience more than our prayers, praise, or offerings. The Bible
tells us, “What pleases the Lord more: burnt offerings and sacrifices
or obedience to his voice? It is better to obey than to sacrifice.”
9
Jesus began his public ministry at age thirty by being baptized
by John. At that event God spoke from heaven: “This is my beloved
Son, and I am fully pleased with him.” 10 What had Jesus been
doing for thirty years that gave God so much pleasure? The Bible
says nothing about those hidden years except for a single phrase
in Luke 2:51: “He went back to Nazareth with them, and lived
obediently with them” (Msg). Thirty years of pleasing God were
summed up in two words: “lived obediently”!


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I must choose to value what God values. This is what friends
do—they care about what is important to the other person. The
more you become God’s friend, the more you will care about the
things he cares about, grieve over the things he grieves over, and
rejoice over the things that bring pleasure to him. The Purpose-Driven Life 96
       Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       


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Paul is the best example of this. God’s agenda was his agenda,
and God’s passion was his: “The thing that has me so upset is that I
care about you so much—this is the passion of God burning inside
me!” 11 David felt the same way: “Passion for your house burns
within me, so those who insult you are also insulting me.”12
What does God care about most? The redemption of his
people.


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He wants all his lost children found! That’s the whole
reason Jesus came to earth. The dearest thing to the heart of God
is the death of his Son. The second dearest thing is when his
children share that news with others. To be a friend of God, you
must care about all the people
around you whom God cares
about. Friends of God tell their
friends about God. I must desire friendship with
God more than anything else. The Psalms are filled with examples
of this desire. David passionately
desired to know God above all else; he used words like longing,
yearning, thirsting, hungering. He craved God. He said, “The
thing I seek most of all is the privilege of meditating in his Temple,
living in his presence every day of my life, delighting in his
incomparable perfections and glory.”
13 In another psalm he said,
“Your love means more than life to me.”14
Jacob’s passion for God’s blessing on his life was so intense that
he wrestled in the dirt all night with God, saying, “I will not let
you go unless you bless me.” 15 The amazing part of that story is that
God, who is all powerful, let Jacob win! God isn’t offended when
we “wrestle” with him, because wrestling requires personal
contact and brings us close to him!


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Paul was another man passionate for friendship with God. Nothing mattered more; it was the first priority, total focus, and
ultimate goal of his life. This is the reason God used Paul in such
PURPOSE #1: Y ou W ere Planned for God’ s Pleasure 97
The more you become God’ s
friend, the more you will care
about the things he cares about. Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       


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a great way. The Amplified translation expresses the full force of
Paul’s passion: “My determined purpose is that I may know Him—
that I may progressively become more deeply and intimately
acquainted with Him, perceiving and recognizing and
understanding the wonders of His Person more strongly and more
clearly.”
16
The truth is—you are as close to God as you choose to be. Intimate friendship with God is a choice, not an accident.


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Do you really want it—more than
anything? What is it worth to you? Is it worth giving up other
things? Is it worth the effort of developing the habits and skills
required? You may have been passionate about God in the past but
you’ve lost that desire. That was the problem of the Christians in
Ephesus—they had left their first love. They did all the right
things, but out of duty, not love. If you’ve just been going
through the motions spiritually, don’t be surprised when God
allows pain in your life. Pain is the fuel of passion—it energizes us with an intensity to
change that we don’t normally possess. C.


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S. Lewis said, “Pain is
God’s megaphone.” It is God’s way of arousing us from spiritual
lethargy. Your problems are not punishment; they are wake-up
calls from a loving God. God is not mad at you; he’s mad
about you, and he will do whatever it takes to bring
you back into fellowship with him. But there is an
easier way to reignite your passion for God: Start
asking God to give it to you, and keep on asking
until you have it. Pray this throughout your day:
“Dear Jesus, more than anything else, I want to
get to know you intimately.” God told the
captives in Babylon, “When you get serious about finding
me and want it more than anything else, I’ll make sure you won’t be
disappointed.”
17
The Purpose-Driven Life 98
       Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       


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PURPOSE #1: Y ou W ere Planned for God’ s Pleasure 99
Your Most Important Relationship 
There is nothing—absolutely nothing—more important than
developing a friendship with God. It’s a relationship that will last
forever. Paul told Timothy,“Some of these people have missed the
most important thing in life—they don’t know God.” 18 Have you
been missing out on the most important thing in life? You can do
something about it starting now.


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Remember, it’s your choice. You
are as close to God as you choose to be. Day Twelve
Thinking about My Purpose
Point to Ponder: I’m as close to God as I choose to be. Verse to Remember: “Draw close to God, and God will
draw close to you.”  James 4:8a (NLT)
Question to Consider: What practical choices will I
make today in order to grow closer to God? Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       


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13
Worship That Pleases God
Love the Lord your God with all your heart
and with all your soul and with all 
your mind and with all your strength. Mark 12:30 (NIV)
God wants all of you. God doesn’t want a part of your life. He asks for all your heart,
all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength. God is not
interested in halfhearted commitment, partial obedience, and the
leftovers of your time and money.


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He desires your full devotion,
not little bits of your life. A Samaritan woman once tried to debate Jesus on the best
time, place, and style for worship. Jesus replied that these external
issues are irrelevant. Where you worship is not as important as
why you worship and how much of yourself you offer to God when
you worship.


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There is a right and wrong way to worship. The
Bible says, “Let us be grateful and worship God in a way that will
please him.”
1 The kind of worship that pleases God has four
characteristics:
The Purpose-Driven Life 100
       Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       


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. ,” and then they share their idea
of the kind of God they would like to worship. But we cannot just
create our own comfortable or politically correct image of God
and worship it. That is idolatry.


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Worship must be based on the truth of Scripture, not our
opinions about God. Jesus told the Samaritan woman, “True
worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are
the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.”
2
To “worship in truth” means to worship God as he is truly
revealed in the Bible. God is pleased when our worship is authentic.When Jesus
said you must “worship in spirit,” he wasn’t referring to the Holy
Spirit, but to your spirit. Made in
God’s image, you are a spirit that
resides in a body, and God designed
your spirit to communicate with
him. Worship is your spirit
responding to God’s Spirit. When Jesus said, “Love God with
all your heart and soul” he meant
that worship must be genuine and
heartfelt. It is not just a matter of saying the right words; you
must mean what you say.


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Heartless praise is not praise at all! It is
worthless, an insult to God. When we worship, God looks past our words to see the attitude
of our hearts. The Bible says, “Man looks at the outward
appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”
3
Since worship involves delighting in God, it engages your
emotions. God gave you emotions so you could worship him with
deep feeling—but those emotions must be genuine, not faked. God hates hypocrisy. He doesn’t want showmanship or pretense
or phoniness in worship. He wants your honest, real love. We can
worship God imperfectly, but we cannot worship him insincerely. PURPOSE #1: Y ou W ere Planned for God’ s Pleasure 101
God-pleasing worship is 
deeply emotional and deeply
doctrinal. W e use both our
hearts and our heads.


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Of course, sincerity alone is not enough; you can be sincerely
wrong. That’s why both spirit and truth are required. Worship
must be both accurate and authentic. God-pleasing worship is
deeply emotional and deeply doctrinal. We use both our hearts
and our heads. Today many equate being emotionally moved by music as
being moved by the Spirit, but these are not the same. Real
worship happens when your spirit responds to God, not to some
musical tone. In fact, some sentimental, introspective songs
hinder worship because they take the spotlight off God and
focus on our feelings. Your biggest distraction in worship is
yourself—your interests and your worries over what others
think about you.


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Christians often differ on the most appropriate or authentic
way to express praise to God, but these arguments usually just
reflect personality and background differences. Many forms of
praise are mentioned in the Bible, among them confessing,
singing, shouting, standing in honor, kneeling, dancing, making a
joyful noise, testifying, playing musical instruments, and raising
hands. 4 The best style of worship is the one that most
authentically represents your love for God, based on the
background and personality God gave you.


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My friend Gary Thomas noticed that many Christians seem
stuck in a worship rut—an unsatisfying routine—instead of
having a vibrant friendship with
God, because they force themselves
to use devotional methods or
worship styles that don’t fit the way
God uniquely shaped them. Gary wondered, If God
intentionally made us all different,
why should everyone be expected to
love God in the same way? As he read Christian classics and
interviewed mature believers, Gary discovered that Christians
The Purpose-Driven Life 102
The best style of worship is the
one that most authentically
represents your love for God. Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       


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have used many different paths for 2,000 years to enjoy intimacy
with God: being outdoors, studying, singing, reading, dancing,
creating art, serving others, having solitude, enjoying fellowship,
and participating in dozens of other activities. In his book Sacred Pathways, Gary identifies nine of the ways
people draw near to God: Naturalists are most inspired to love
God out-of-doors, in natural settings. Sensates love
God with their senses and appreciate beautiful
worship services that involve their sight, taste,
smell, and touch, not just their ears.


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Traditionalists draw closer to God through rituals,
liturgies, symbols, and unchanging structures. Ascetics prefer to love God in solitude and
simplicity. Activists love God through confronting evil, battling
injustice, and working to make the world a better place. Caregivers love God by loving others and meeting their needs. Enthusiasts love God through celebration. Contemplatives love
God through adoration. Intellectuals love God by studying with
their minds. 5
There is no “one-size-fits-all” approach to worship and
friendship with God.


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One thing is certain: You don’t bring glory
to God by trying to be someone he never intended you to be. God wants you to be yourself. “That’s the kind of people the Father
is out looking for: those who are simply and honestly themselves
before him in their worship.”
6
God is pleased when our worship is thoughtful. Jesus’
command to “love God with all your mind” is repeated four times
in the New Testament. God is not pleased with thoughtless
singing of hymns, perfunctory praying of clichés, or careless
exclamations of “Praise the Lord,” because we can’t think of
anything else to say at that moment. If worship is mindless, it is
meaningless.


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You must engage your mind. Jesus called thoughtless worship “vain repetitions.”
7 Even
biblical terms can become tired clichés from overuse, and we stop
PURPOSE #1: Y ou W ere Planned for God’ s Pleasure 103
       Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       


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thinking about the meaning. It is so much easier to offer clichés
in worship instead of making the effort to honor God with fresh
words and ways. This is why I encourage you to read Scripture in
different translations and paraphrases. It will expand
your expressions of worship. Try praising God without using the words praise,
hallelujah, thanks, or amen. Instead of saying, “We
just want to praise you,” make a list of synonyms and
use fresh words like admire, respect, value, revere,
honor, and appreciate. Also, be specific.


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If someone approached you and repeated, “I
praise you!” ten times, you would probably think, For what? You
would rather receive two specific compliments than twenty vague
generalities. So would God.


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Another idea is to make a list of the different names of God
and focus on them. God’s names are not arbitrary; they tell us
about different aspects of his character. In the Old Testament,
God gradually revealed himself to Israel by introducing new
names for himself, and he commands us to praise his name. 8
God wants our corporate worship gatherings to be thoughtful,
too. Paul devotes an entire chapter to this in 1 Corinthians 14
and concludes, “Everything should be done in a fitting and 
orderly way.”
9
Related to this, God insists that our worship services be
understandable to unbelievers when they are present in our
worship gatherings. Paul observed, “Suppose some strangers are in
your worship service, when you are praising God with your spirit. If
they don’t understand you, how will they know to say, ‘Amen’? You
may be worshiping God in a wonderful way, but no one else will be
helped.”
10 Being sensitive to unbelievers who visit your worship
gatherings is a biblical command. To ignore this command is to
be both disobedient and unloving.


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For a full explanation of this,
see the chapter on “Worship Can Be a Witness” in The Purpose-
Driven Church. The Purpose-Driven Life 104
DAY THIRTEEN:
WORSHIP
THAT
PLEASES
GOD
       Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       


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God is pleased when our worship is practical. The Bible
says, “Offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to
God—this is your spiritual act of worship.” 11 Why does God want
your body? Why doesn’t he say, “Offer your spirit”? Because
without your body you can’t do anything on this planet. In
eternity you will receive a new, improved, upgraded body, but
while you’re here on earth, God says, “Give me what you’ve
got!” He’s just being practical about worship. You have heard people say, “I can’t make it to the meeting
tonight, but I’ll be with you in spirit.” Do you know what that
means?


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If your body isn’t there,
neither are you. In worship we are to “offer our bodies as living sacrifices.”
Now, we usually associate the concept of “sacrifice” with
something dead, but God wants you to be a living sacrifice. He
wants you to live for him! However, the problem with a living
sacrifice is that it can crawl off the
altar, and we often do that. We
sing, “Onward, Christian Soldiers”
on Sunday, then go AWOL on
Monday. In the Old Testament, God took
pleasure in the many sacrifices of
worship because they foretold of Jesus’ sacrifice for us on the
cross. Now God is pleased with different sacrifices of worship:
thanksgiving, praise, humility, repentance, offerings of money,
prayer, serving others, and sharing with those in need. 12
Real worship costs. David knew this and said: “I will not offer to
the Lord my God sacrifices that have cost me nothing.” 13
One thing worship costs us is our self-centeredness. You cannot
exalt God and yourself at the same time. You don’t worship to be
seen by others or to please yourself. You deliberately shift the
focus off yourself. PURPOSE #1: Y ou W ere Planned for God’ s Pleasure 105
Real worship is rooted 
in the W ord. Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       


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The Purpose-Driven Life 106
When Jesus said, “Love God with all your strength,” he pointed
out that worship takes effort and energy. It is not always
convenient or comfortable, and sometimes worship is a sheer act
of the will—a willing sacrifice. Passive worship is an oxymoron. When you praise God even when you don’t feel like it, when
you get out of bed to worship when you’re tired, or when you
help others when you are worn out, you are offering a sacrifice of
worship to God. That pleases God. Matt Redman, a worship leader in England, tells how his pastor
taught his church the real meaning of worship. To show that
worship is more than music, he banned all singing in their services
for a period of time while they learned to worship in other ways. By the end of that time, Matt had written the classic song “Heart
of Worship”:
I’ll bring You more than a song, 
because the song itself is not what You’ve required. You search much deeper within 
than the way things appear.


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You’re looking into my heart. 14
The heart of the matter is a matter of the heart. Day Thirteen
Thinking about My Purpose
Point to Ponder: God wants all of me. Verse to Remember: “Love the Lord your God with all
your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind
and with all your strength.” Mark 12:30 (NIV)
Question to Consider: Which is more pleasing to God
right now—my public worship or my private worship? What will I do about this?


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14
When God Seems Distant
The Lord has hidden himself from his people,
but I trust him and place my hope in him. Isaiah 8:17 (TEV)
God is real, no matter how you feel. It is easy to worship God when things are going great in your
life—when he has provided food, friends, family, health, and
happy situations.


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But circumstances are not always pleasant. How
do you worship God then? What do you do when God seems a
million miles away? The deepest level of worship is praising God in spite of pain,
thanking God during a trial, trusting him when tempted,
surrendering while suffering, and loving him when he seems distant. Friendships are often tested by separation and silence; you are
divided by physical distance or you are unable to talk.


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In your
friendship with God, you won’t alwaysfeel close to him. Philip
Yancey has wisely noted, “Any relationship involves times of
closeness and times of distance, and in a relationship with God,
PURPOSE #1: Y ou W ere Planned for God’ s Pleasure 107
       Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       


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no matter how intimate, the pendulum will swing from one side
to the other.”1 That’s when worship gets difficult. To mature your friendship, God will test it with periods of
seeming separation—times when it feels as if he has abandoned or
forgotten you. God feels a million miles away. St. John of the
Cross referred to these days of spiritual dryness, doubt, and
estrangement from God as “the dark night of the soul.” Henri
Nouwen called them “the ministry of absence.” A. W. Tozer
called them “the ministry of the night.” Others refer to “the
winter of the heart.”
Besides Jesus, David probably had the closest friendship with
God of anyone. God took pleasure in calling him “a man after my
own heart.”
2 Yet David frequently complained of God’s apparent
absence: “Lord, why are you standing aloof and far away? Why do
you hide when I need you the most?” 3 “Why have you forsaken me? Why do you remain so distant? Why do you ignore my cries for
help?”
4 “Why have you abandoned me?”5
Of course, God hadn’t really left David, and he doesn’t leave
you. He has promised repeatedly, “I will never leave you nor
forsake you.”6 But God has not promised “you will always feel my
presence.” In fact, God admits that sometimes he hides his face
from us.7 There are times when he appears to be
MIA, missing-in-action, in your life. Floyd McClung describes it: “You wake up one
morning and all your spiritual feelings are gone. You pray, but nothing happens. You rebuke the
devil, but it doesn’t change anything. You go
through spiritual exercises . . . you have your friends
pray for you . .


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. you confess every sin you can imagine, then go
around asking forgiveness of everyone you know. You fast .


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. still
nothing. You begin to wonder how long this spiritual gloom
might last. Days? Weeks? Months? Will it ever end? .


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. it feels as if
your prayers simply bounce off the ceiling. In utter desperation,
you cry out, ‘What’s the matter with me?’”
8
The Purpose-Driven Life 108
DAY FOURTEEN:
WHEN
GOD
SEEMS
DISTANT
       Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       


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The truth is, there’s nothing wrong with you! This is a normal
part of the testing and maturing of your friendship with God. Every Christian goes through it at least once, and usually several
times. It is painful and disconcerting, but it is absolutely vital for
the development of your faith. Knowing this gave Job hope when
he could not feel God’s presence in
his life. He said, “I go east, but he is
not there. I go west, but I cannot
find him. I do not see him in the
north, for he is hidden. I turn to the
south, but I cannot find him.


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But he knows where I am going. And
when he has tested me like gold in a fire, he will pronounce me
innocent.”
9
When God seems distant, you may feel that he is angry with
you or is disciplining you for some sin. In fact, sin does disconnect
us from intimate fellowship with God.


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We grieve God’s Spirit and
quench our fellowship with him by disobedience, conflict with
others, busyness, friendship with the world, and other sins. 10
But often this feeling of abandonment or estrangement from
God has nothing to do with sin. It is a test of faith—one we all
must face: Will you continue to love, trust, obey, and worship
God, even when you have no sense of his presence or visible
evidence of his work in your life? The most common mistake Christians make in worship today is
seeking an experience rather than seeking God. They look for a
feeling, and if it happens, they conclude that they have worshiped.


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Wrong! In fact, God often removes our feelings so we won’t
depend on them. Seeking a feeling, even the feeling of closeness
to Christ, is not worship. When you are a baby Christian, God gives you a lot of
confirming emotions and often answers the most immature, self-
centered prayers—so you’ll know he exists.


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But as you grow in
faith, he will wean you of these dependencies. PURPOSE #1: Y ou W ere Planned for God’ s Pleasure 109
God admits that sometimes 
he hides his face from us. Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       


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God’s omnipresence and the
manifestation of his presence are
two different things. One is a fact;
the other is often a feeling. God is
always present, even when you are
unaware of him, and his presence is
too profound to be measured by
mere emotion. Yes, he wants you to sense his
presence, but he’s more concerned that you trust him than that
you feel him. Faith, not feelings, pleases God. The situations that will stretch your faith most will be those
times when life falls apart and God is nowhere to be found. This
happened to Job. On a single day he lost everything— his family,
his business, his health, and everything he owned. Most
discouraging—for thirty-seven chapters, God said nothing! How do you praise God when you don’t understand what’s
happening in your life and God is silent? How do you stay
connected in a crisis without communication?


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How do you keep
your eyes on Jesus when they’re full of tears? You do what Job
did: “Then he fell to the ground in worship and said: ‘Naked I came
from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave
and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be
praised.’”
11
Tell God exactly how you feel. Pour out your heart to God.


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I am angry and bitter. I have to speak!”
12
He cried out when God seemed distant: “Oh, for the days when I
was in my prime, when God’s intimate friendship blessed my
house.”
13 God can handle your doubt, anger, fear, grief,
confusion, and questions. Did you know that admitting your hopelessness to God can be
a statement of faith? Trusting God but feeling despair at the same
time, David wrote, “I believed, so I said, ‘I am completely
The Purpose-Driven Life 110
The most common mistake
Christians make in worship
today is seeking an experience
rather than seeking God. Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       


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ruined!’”14 This sounds like a contradiction: I trust God, but I’m
wiped out! David’s frankness actually reveals deep faith: First, he
believed in God. Second, he believed God would listen to his
prayer. Third, he believed God would let him say what he felt and
still love him. Focus on who God is—his unchanging nature. Regardless
of circumstances and how you feel, hang on to God’s unchanging
character. Remind yourself what you know to be eternally true
about God: He is good, he loves me, he is with me, he knows
what I’m going through, he cares, and he has a good plan for my
life. V. Raymond Edman said, “Never doubt in the dark what
God told you in the light.”
When Job’s life fell apart, and God was silent, Job still found
things he could praise God for:
• That he is good and loving. 15
• That he is all-powerful.16
• That he notices every detail of my life.17
• That he is in control.18
•T hat he has a plan for my life.19
• That he will save me.20
Trust God to keep his promises.


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During times of spiritual
dryness you must patiently rely on the promises of God, not your
emotions, and realize that he is taking you to a deeper level of
maturity. A friendship based on emotion is shallow
indeed. So don’t be troubled by trouble.


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Circumstances
cannot change the character of God. God’s grace
is still in full force; he is still for you, even when
you don’t feel it.


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In the absence of confirming
circumstances, Job held on to God’s Word. He
said, “I have not departed from the commands of his
lips; I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my daily
bread.”
21
PURPOSE #1: Y ou W ere Planned for God’ s Pleasure 111
       Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       


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This trust in God’s Word caused Job to remain faithful even
though nothing made sense. His faith was strong in the midst of
pain: “God may kill me, but still I will trust him.”22
When you feel abandoned by God yet continue to trust him in
spite of your feelings, you worship him in the deepest way. Remember what God has already done for you.


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If God
never did anything else for you, he would still deserve your
continual praise for the rest of your life because of what Jesus did
for you on the cross. God’s Son died for you! This is the greatest
reason for worship. Unfortunately, we forget the cruel details of the agonizing
sacrifice God made on our behalf.


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Familiarity breeds complacency. Even before his crucifixion, the Son of God was stripped naked,
beaten until almost unrecognizable, whipped, scorned and
mocked, crowned with thorns, and spit on contemptuously. Abused and ridiculed by heartless
men, he was treated worse than an
animal. Then, nearly unconscious from
blood loss, he was forced to drag a
cumbersome cross up a hill, was
nailed to it, and was left to die the
slow, excruciating torture of death
by crucifixion. While his lifeblood
drained out, hecklers stood by and shouted insults, making fun of
his pain and challenging his claim to be God. Next, as Jesus took all of mankind’s sin and guilt on himself,
God looked away from that ugly sight, and Jesus cried out in
total desperation, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken
me?” Jesus could have saved himself—but then he could not
have saved you. Words cannot describe the darkness of that moment. Why did
God allow and endure such ghastly, evil mistreatment?


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Why? So
you could be spared from eternity in hell, and so you could share
The Purpose-Driven Life 112
When you feel abandoned 
by God yet continue to trust
him, you worship him 
in the deepest way. Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       


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PURPOSE #1: Y ou W ere Planned for God’ s Pleasure 113
in his glory forever! The Bible says, “Christ was without sin, but
for our sake God made him share our sin in order that in union with
him we might share the righteousness of God.” 23
Jesus gave up everything so you could have everything. He
died so you could live forever. That alone is worthy of your
continual thanks and praise.


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Never again should you wonder what
you have to be thankful for. Day Fourteen
Thinking about My Purpose
Point to Ponder: God is real, no matter how I feel. Verse to Remember: “For God has said, ‘I will never
leave you; I will never abandon you.’ ” 
Hebrews 13:5 (TEV)
Question to Consider: How can I stay focused on
God’s presence, especially when he feels distant? Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       


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YOU WERE FORMED 
FOR GOD’S FAMILY
I am the vine, and you are the branches. John 15:5 (CEV)
Christ makes us one body . .


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. connected to each other. Romans 12:5 (GWT)
PURPOSE #2
       Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       


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15
Formed for God’s Family
God is the One who made all things, 
and all things are for his glory. He wanted to
have many children share his glory. Hebrews 2:10a (NCV)
See how very much our heavenly Father 
loves us, for he allows us to be called 
his children, and we really are! 1 John 3:1 (NLT)
You were formed for God’s family.


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God wants a family, and he created you to be a part of it. This
is God’s second purpose for your life, which he planned before
you were born. The entire Bible is the story of God building a
family who will love him, honor him, and reign with him forever. It says, “His unchanging plan has always been to adopt us into his
own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. And this
gave him great pleasure.”
1
Because God is love, he treasures relationships. His very nature
is relational, and he identifies himself in family terms: Father, Son,
and Spirit. The Trinity is God’s relationship to himself.


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It’s the
perfect pattern for relational harmony, and we should study its
implications. PURPOSE #2: Y ou W ere Formed for God’ s Family 117
       Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       


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God has always existed in loving relationship to himself, so he
has never been lonely. He didn’tneed a family—he desired one,
so he devised a plan to create us, bring us into his family, and
share with us all he has.


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This gives God great pleasure. The Bible
says, “It was a happy day for him when he gave us our new lives,
through the truth of his Word, and we became, as it were, the first
children in his new family.”
2
When we place our faith in Christ, God becomes our Father,
we become his children, other believers become our brothers and
sisters, and the church becomes our spiritual family. The family of
God includes all believers in the past, the present, and the future. Every human being was created by God, but not everyone is a
child of God. The only way to get into God’s family is by being
born again into it. You became part of the human family by your
first birth, but you become a member of God’s family by your
second birth. God “has given us the privilege of being born again,
so that we are now members of God’s own family.”
3
The invitation to be part of God’s family is universal,4 but there
is one condition: faith in Jesus. The Bible says, “You are all
children of God through faith in Christ Jesus.” 5
Your spiritual family is even more important than your physical
family because it will last forever. Our families on earth are
wonderful gifts from God, but they are temporary
and fragile, often broken by divorce, distance,
growing old, and inevitably, death. On the other
hand, our spiritual family—our relationship to other
believers—will continue throughout eternity.


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It is a
much stronger union, a more permanent bond, than
blood relationships. Whenever Paul would stop to
consider God’s eternal purpose for us together, he
would break out into praise: “When I think of the wisdom and scope
of his plan I fall down on my knees and pray to the Father of all the
great family of God—some of them already in heaven and some
down here on earth.”
6
The Purpose-Driven Life 118
       Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       


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Benefits of Being in God’s Family
The moment you were spiritually born into God’s family, you
were given some astounding birthday gifts: the family name, the
family likeness, family privileges, family intimate access, and the
family inheritance! 7 The Bible says,
“Since you are his child, everything he
has belongs to you.”
8
The New Testament gives great
emphasis to our rich “inheritance.”
It tells us, “My God will meet all
your needs according to his glorious
riches in Christ Jesus.”
9 As children
of God we get to share in the family
fortune. Here on earth we are given “the riches . .


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. and
mercy.”
10 But in eternity we will inherit even more. Paul said, “I want you to realize what a rich and glorious
inheritance he has given to his people.” 11 What exactly does that
inheritance include? First, we will get to be with God forever.12
Second, we will be completely changed to be like Christ.13 Third,
we will be freed from all pain, death, and suffering.14 Fourth, we
will be rewarded and reassigned positions of service.15 Fifth, we
will get to share in Christ’s glory.16 What an inheritance! You are
far richer than you realize. The Bible says, “God has reserved a priceless inheritance for his
children. It is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the
reach of change and decay.”
17 This means that your eternal
inheritance is priceless, pure, permanent, and protected. No one
can take it from you; it can’t be destroyed by war, a poor
economy, or a natural disaster. This eternal inheritance, not
retirement, is what you should be looking forward to and
working for. Paul says, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your
heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you
PURPOSE #2: Y ou W ere Formed for God’ s Family 119
Your spiritual family is 
even more important than 
your physical family because 
it will last forever. Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       


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will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward.”18
Retirement is a short-sighted goal. You should be living in light
of eternity.


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Baptism: Identifying with God’s Family 
Healthy families have family pride; members are not ashamed
to be recognized as a part of the family. Sadly, I have met many
believers who have never publicly identified themselves with their
spiritual family as Jesus commanded—by being
baptized. Baptism is not an optional ritual, to be delayed or
postponed. It signifies your inclusion in God’s family. It publicly announces to the world, “I am not
ashamed to be a part of God’s family.” Have you
been baptized?


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Jesus commanded this beautiful act
for all in his family. He told us to “go and make disciples of all the
nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and
the Holy Spirit.”
19
For years I wondered why Jesus’ Great Commission gives the
same prominence to baptism as it does to the great tasks of
evangelism and edification. Why is baptism so important? Then I
realized it is because it symbolizes God’s second purpose for your
life: participating in the fellowship of God’s eternal family. Baptism is pregnant with meaning. Your baptism declares your
faith, shares Christ’s burial and resurrection, symbolizes your
death to your old life, and announces your new life in Christ. It is
also a celebration of your inclusion in God’s family. Your baptism is a physical picture of a spiritual truth. It
represents what happened the moment God brought you into his
family: “Some of us are Jews, some are Gentiles, some are slaves, and
some are free. But we have all been baptized into Christ’s body by one
Spirit, and we have all received the same Spirit.”
20
Baptism doesn’t make you a member of God’s family; only faith
in Christ does that.


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Baptism shows you are part of God’s family. The Purpose-Driven Life 120
DAY FIFTEEN:
FORMED
FOR
GOD’S
FAMILY
       Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       


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Like a wedding ring, it is a visible reminder of an inward
commitment made in your heart. It is an act of initiation, not
something you put off until you are spiritually mature.


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The only
biblical condition is that you believe. 21
In the New Testament, people were baptized as soon as they
believed. At Pentecost, 3,000 were baptized the same day they
accepted Christ. Elsewhere, an Ethiopian leader was baptized on
the spot when he was converted, and Paul and Silas baptized a
Philippian jailer and his family at midnight. There are no delayed
baptisms in the New Testament.


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If you haven’t been baptized as
an expression of your faith in Christ, do so as soon as possible, as
Jesus commanded. Life’s Greatest Privilege
The Bible says, “Jesus and the people he makes holy all belong to
the same family. That is why he isn’t ashamed to call them his
brothers and sisters.”
22 Let that
amazing truth sink in. You are a
part of God’s family, and because
Jesus makes you holy, God is proud
of you! The words of Jesus are
unmistakable: “[Jesus] pointed to his
disciples and said, ‘These are my
mother and brothers. Anyone who
does the will of my Father in heaven
is my brother and sister and mother!’”
23 Being included in God’s
family is the highest honor and the greatest privilege you will ever
receive. Nothing else comes close.


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Whenever you feel
unimportant, unloved, or insecure, remember to whom you
belong. PURPOSE #2: Y ou W ere Formed for God’ s Family 121
Being included in God’ s 
family is the highest honor 
and the greatest privilege you
will ever receive. Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       


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The Purpose-Driven Life 122
Day Fifteen
Thinking about My Purpose
Point to Ponder: I was formed for God’s family. Verse to Remember: “His unchanging plan has always
been to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to
himself through Jesus Christ.”  Ephesians 1:5a (NLT)
Question to Consider: How can I start treating other
believers like members of my own family?


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16
What Matters Most
No matter what I say, what I believe, and
what I do, I’ m bankrupt without love. 1 Corinthians 13:3b (Msg)
Love means living the way God commanded us
to live.


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As you have heard from the beginning,
his command is this: Live a life of love. 2 John 1:6 (NCV)
Life is all about love. Because God is love, the most important lesson he wants you
to learn on earth is how to love. It is in loving that we are most
like him, so love is the foundation of every command he has given
us: “The whole Law can be summed up in this one command: ‘Love
others as you love yourself.’”
1
Learning to love unselfishly is not an easy task. It runs counter
to our self-centered nature.


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That’s why we’re given a lifetime to
learn it. Of course, God wants us to love everyone, but he is
particularly concerned that we learn to love others in his family. As we’ve already seen, this is the second purpose for your life. Peter tells us, “Show special love for God’s people.”
2 Paul echoes this
PURPOSE #2: Y ou W ere Formed for God’ s Family 123
       Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       


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sentiment: “When we have the opportunity to help anyone, we should
do it. But we should give special attention to those who are in the
family of believers.” 3
Why does God insist that we give special love and attention to
other believers? Why do they get priority in loving?


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Because God
wants his family to be known for its love more than
anything else. Jesus said our love for each other— not
our doctrinal beliefs—is our greatest witness to the
world. He said, “Your strong love for each other will
prove to the world that you are my disciples.”
4
In heaven we will enjoy God’s family forever, but
first we have some tough work to do here on earth to prepare
ourselves for an eternity of loving. God trains us by giving us
“family responsibilities,” and the foremost of these is to practice
loving each other. God wants you to be in regular, close fellowship with other
believers so you can develop the skill of loving. Love cannot be
learned in isolation. You have to be around people—irritating,
imperfect, frustrating people. Through fellowship we learn three
important truths. The Best Use of Life Is Love
Love should be your top priority, primary objective, and
greatest ambition. Love is not a good part of your life; it’s the most
important part. The Bible says, “Let love be your greatest aim.”5
It’s not enough to say, “One of the things I want in life is to be
loving,” as if it’s in your top ten list. Relationships must have
priority in your life above everything else.


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Life without love is really worthless. Paul makes this point:
“No matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I’m bankrupt
without love.”
6
Often we act as if relationships are something to be squeezed
into our schedule. We talk about finding time for our children or
making time for people in our lives. That gives the impression
The Purpose-Driven Life 124
DAY SIXTEEN:
WHAT
MATTERS
MOST
       Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       


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that relationships are just a part of our lives along with many
other tasks. But God says relationships are what life is all about. Four of the Ten Commandments deal with our relationship to
God while the other six deal with our relationships with people. But all ten are about relationships! Later, Jesus summarized what
matters most to God in two statements: love God and love
people. He said, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your
heart. .


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.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is
equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the other
commandments and all the demands of the prophets are based on
these two commandments.”
7 After learning to love God (worship),
learning to love others is the second purpose of your life. Relationships, not achievements or the acquisition of things,
are what matters most in life.


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So why do we allow our
relationships to get the short end of the stick? When our
schedules become overloaded, we start skimming relationally,
cutting back on giving the time, energy, and attention that loving
relationships require. What’s most important to God is displaced
by what’s urgent. Busyness is a great enemy of relationships. We become
preoccupied with making a living, doing our work, paying
bills, and accomplishing goals as if these tasks are the
point of life.


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They are not. The point of life is
learning to love—God and people. Life minus love
equals zero. Love will last forever. Another reason God tells us
to make love our top priority is that it is eternal: “These
three things continue forever: faith, hope, and love. And
the greatest of these is love.”
8
Love leaves a legacy. How you treated other people, not your
wealth or accomplishments, is the most enduring impact you can
leave on earth. As Mother Teresa said, “It’s not what you do, but
how much love you put into it that matters.” Love is the secret of
a lasting heritage. PURPOSE #2: Y ou W ere Formed for God’ s Family 125
       Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       


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I have been at the bedside of many people in their final
moments, when they stand on the edge of eternity, and I have
never heard anyone say, “Bring me my diplomas! I want to look
at them one more time. Show me my awards, my medals, that
gold watch I was given.” When life on earth is ending, people
don’t surround themselves with objects. What we want around us
is people—people we love and have relationships with.


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In our final moments we all realize that relationships are what
life is all about. Wisdom is learning that truth sooner rather than
later. Don’t wait until you’re on
your deathbed to figure out that
nothing matters more.


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We will be evaluated on our
love. The third reason to make
learning to love the goal of your life
is that it is what we will be
evaluated on in eternity. One of the ways God measures spiritual
maturity is by the quality of your relationships. In heaven God
won’t say, “Tell me about your career, your bank account, and
your hobbies.” Instead he will review how you treated other
people, particularly those in need. 9 Jesus said the way to love him
is to love his family and care for their practical needs: “Truly I tell
you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of
my family, you did it to me.”
10
When you transfer into eternity, you will leave everything else
behind. All you’re taking with you is your character. That’s why
the Bible says, “The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself
through love.”
11
Knowing this, I suggest that when you wake up every morning,
you kneel by your bed, or sit on the edge of it, and pray this: “God,
whether I get anything else done today, I want to make sure that I
spend time loving you and loving other people—because that’s
what life is all about. I don’t want to waste this day.” Why should
God give you another day if you’re going to waste it?


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The Purpose-Driven Life 126
Relationships are what 
life is all about. Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       


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The Best Expression of Love Is Time
The importance of things can be measured by how much time
we are willing to invest in them. The more time you give to
something, the more you reveal its importance and value to you. If you want to know a person’s priorities, just look at how they
use their time. Time is your most precious gift because you only have a set
amount of it. You can make more money, but you can’t make
more time. When you give someone your time, you are giving
them a portion of your life that you’ll never get back. Your time is
your life. That is why the greatest gift you can give someone is
your time. It is not enough just to say relationships are important; we
must prove it by investing time in them. Words alone are
worthless. “My children, our love should not be just words and talk;
it must be true love, which shows itself in action.”
12 Relationships
take time and effort, and the best
way to spell love is “T–I–M–E.” 
The essence of love is not what we
think or do or provide for others,
but how much we give of ourselves. Men, in particular, often don’t
understand this.


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What more could they want?” They want you! Your
eyes, your ears, your time, your attention, your presence, your
focus—your time.


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Nothing can take the place of that. The most desired gift of love is not diamonds or roses or
chocolate. It is focused attention. Love concentrates so intently on
another that you forget yourself at that moment. Attention says,
“I value you enough to give you my most precious asset—my
time.” Whenever you give your time, you are making a sacrifice,
and sacrifice is the essence of love. Jesus modeled this: “Be full of
PURPOSE #2: Y ou W ere Formed for God’ s Family 127
The greatest gift you can give
someone is your time. Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       


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love for others, following the example of Christ who loved you and
gave Himself to God as a sacrifice to take away your sins.” 13
You can give without loving, but you cannot love without
giving. “God so loved the world that he gave.... ” 14 Love means
giving up—yielding my preferences, comfort, goals, security,
money, energy, or time for the benefit of someone else. The Best Time to Love Is Now
Sometimes procrastination is a legitimate response
to a trivial task. But because love is what matters
most, it takes top priority.


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The Bible stresses this
repeatedly. It says, “Whenever we have the
opportunity, we should do good to everyone.” 15 “Use
every chance you have for doing good.” 16 “Whenever
you possibly can, do good to those who need it. Never
tell your neighbor to wait until tomorrow if you can help
them now.”17
Why is now the best time to express love? Because you don’t
know how long you will have the opportunity.


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People die. Children grow up. You have no guarantee of
tomorrow. If you want to express love, you had better do it now. Knowing that one day you will stand before God, here are
some questions you need to consider: How will you explain those
times when projects or things were more important to you than
people? Who do you need to start spending more time with? What do you need to cut out of your schedule to make that
possible? What sacrifices do you need to make? The best use of life is love. The best expression of love is time. The best time to love is now. The Purpose-Driven Life 128
       Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       


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PURPOSE #2: Y ou W ere Formed for God’ s Family 129
Day Sixteen
Thinking about My Purpose
Point to Ponder: Life is all about love. Verse to Remember: “The entire law is summed up in a
single command: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” 
Galatians 5:14 (NIV)
Question to Consider: Honestly, are relationships my
first priority? How can I ensure that they are?


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17
A Place to Belong
You are members of God’ s very own family,
citizens of God’ s country, and you belong in
God’ s household with every other Christian. Ephesians 2:19b (LB) 
God’ s family is the church of the living God,
the pillar and foundation of the truth. 1 Timothy 3:15b (GWT)
You are called to belong, not just believe. Even in the perfect, sinless environment of Eden, God said, “It
is not good for man to be alone.” 1 We are created for community,
fashioned for fellowship, and formed for a family, and none of us
can fulfill God’s purposes by ourselves. The Bible knows nothing of solitary saints or spiritual hermits
isolated from other believers and deprived of fellowship.


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    "What does Ephesians 2:19b suggest about the identity of believers in relation to God?",
    "According to the excerpt, why are human beings described as being created for community?",
    "What does the excerpt imply about the importance of fellowship among believers?"
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The
Bible says we are put together, joined together, built together,
members together, heirs together, fitted together, and held together
and will be caught up together. 2 You’re not on your own anymore. While your relationship to Christ is personal, God never
intends it to be private.


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    "What does the Bible suggest about the nature of relationships in a Christian context?",
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In God’s family you are connected to
every other believer, and we will belong to each other for eternity. The Purpose-Driven Life 130
       Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       


key: original_content
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The Bible says, “In Christ we who are many form one body, and
each member belongs to all the others.” 3
Following Christ includes belonging, not just believing. We are
members of his Body—the church.


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    "How does the excerpt describe the relationship between members of the church?"
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S. Lewis noted that the
word membership is of Christian origin, but the world has emptied
it of its original meaning. Stores offer discounts to “members,”
and advertisers use member names to create mailing lists. In
churches, membership is often reduced to simply adding your
name to a roll, with no requirements or expectations. To Paul, being a “member” of the church meant being a vital
organ of a living body, an indispensable, interconnected part of
the Body of Christ. 4 We need to recover and practice the biblical
meaning of membership. The church is a body, not a building; an
organism, not an organization. For the organs of your body to fulfill their purpose, they must
be connected to your body. The same is true for you as a part 
of Christ’s Body. You were created for a specific role, but you
will miss this second purpose of your life if you’re not attached
to a living, local church. You discover your role in life through
your relationships with others. The Bible tells us, “Each part
gets its meaning from the body as a whole, not the other way
around. The body we’re talking about is Christ’s body of chosen
people. Each of us finds our meaning and function as a part of his
body. But as a chopped-off finger or
cut-off toe we wouldn’t amount to
much, would we?”
5
If an organ is somehow severed
from its body, it will shrivel and die. It cannot exist on its own, and
neither can you.


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Disconnected and
cut off from the lifeblood of a local
body, your spiritual life will wither and eventually cease to exist. 6
This is why the first symptom of spiritual decline is usually
inconsistent attendance at worship services and other gatherings
PURPOSE #2: Y ou W ere Formed for God’ s Family 131
We discover our role 
in life through our 
relationships with others. Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       


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of believers. Whenever we become careless about fellowship,
everything else begins to slide, too. Membership in the family of God is neither inconsequential nor
something to be casually ignored.


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The church is God’s agenda for
the world. Jesus said, “I will build my church, and all the powers of
hell will not conquer it.”
7 The church is indestructible and will
exist for eternity. It will outlive this universe, and so will your role
in it.


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    "According to the excerpt, what will not conquer the church?"
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The person who says, “I don’t need the church,” is either
arrogant or ignorant. The church is so significant that Jesus died
on the cross for it. “Christ loved the
church and gave his life for it.”
8
The Bible calls the church “the
bride of Christ” and “the body of
Christ.” 9 I can’t imagine saying to
Jesus, “I love you, but I dislike your
wife.” Or “I accept you, but I reject
your body.” But we do this
whenever we dismiss or demean or complain about the church. Instead, God commands us to love the church as much as Jesus
does. The Bible says, “Love your spiritual family.”
10 Sadly, many
Christians use the church but don’t love it. Your Local Fellowship
Except for a few important instances referring to all believers
throughout history, almost every time the word church is used in
the Bible it refers to a local, visible congregation. The New
Testament assumes membership in a local congregation. The only
Christians not members of a local fellowship were those under
church discipline who had been removed from the fellowship
because of gross public sin. 11
The Bible says a Christian without a church home is like an
organ without a body, a sheep without a flock, or a child without
a family.


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It is an unnatural state. The Bible says, “You belong in
God’s household with every other Christian.”
12
The Purpose-Driven Life 132
The church will outlive 
this universe, and so will 
your role in it. Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       


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Today’s culture of independent individualism has created many
spiritual orphans—“bunny believers” who hop around from one
church to another without any identity, accountability, or
commitment. Many believe one can be a “good Christian”
without joining (or even attending) a local church, but God
would strongly disagree. The Bible offers many compelling
reasons for being committed and active in a local fellowship. Why You Need a Church Family
A church family identifies you as a genuine believer. I can’t
claim to be following Christ if I’m not committed to any specific
group of disciples. Jesus said, “Your love for one another will prove
to the world that you are my disciples.”
13
When we come together in love as a church family from
different backgrounds, race, and social status, it is a powerful
witness to the world. 14 You are not the Body of Christ on your
own.


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You need others to express that. Together, not separated, we
are his Body.15
A church family moves you out of self-centered isolation. The local church is the classroom for learning how to get along in
God’s family. It is a lab for practicing unselfish, sympathetic love.


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As a participating member you learn to care about others and
share the experiences of others: “If one part of the body suffers, all
the other parts suffer with it. Or if one part of our
body is honored, all the other parts share its honor.”
16
Only in regular contact with ordinary, imperfect
believers can we learn real fellowship and
experience the New Testament truth of being
connected and dependent on each other. 17
Biblical fellowship is being as committed to each other as we
are to Jesus Christ. God expects us to give our lives for each
other.


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Many Christians who know John 3:16 are unaware of
1 John 3:16: “Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to
lay down our lives for our brothers.”
18 This is the kind of sacrificial
PURPOSE #2: Y ou W ere Formed for God’ s Family 133
DAY SEVENTEEN:
A PLACE 
TO BELONG
       Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       


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love God expects you to show other believers—a willingness to
love them in the same way Jesus loves you. A church family helps you develop spiritual muscle. You will
never grow to maturity just by attending worship services and
being a passive spectator. Only participation in the full life of a
local church builds spiritual muscle. The Bible says, “As each part
does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the
whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.”
19
Over fifty times in the New Testament the phrase “one
another” or “each other” is used. We are commanded to love
each other, pray for each other, encourage each other, admonish
each other, greet each other, serve each other, teach each other,
accept each other, honor each other, bear each other’s burdens,
forgive each other, submit to each other, be devoted to each
other, and many other mutual tasks. This is biblical
membership! These are your “family responsibilities” that God
expects you to fulfill through a local fellowship. Who are you
doing these with?


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It may seem easier to be holy when no one else is around to
frustrate your preferences, but that is a false, untested holiness. Isolation breeds deceitfulness; it is easy to fool ourselves into
thinking we are mature if there is no one to challenge us. Real
maturity shows up in relationships. We need more than the Bible in order to grow; we need other
believers. We grow faster and stronger by learning from each
other and being accountable to each other. When others share
what God is teaching them, I learn and grow, too. The Body of Christ needs you.


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God has a unique role for you
to play in his family. This is called your “ministry,” and God has
gifted you for this assignment: “A spiritual gift is given to each of
us as a means of helping the entire church.”
20
Your local fellowship is the place God designed for you to
discover, develop, and use your gifts. You may also have a wider
ministry, but that is in addition to your service in a local body.


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The Purpose-Driven Life 134
       Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       


key: original_content
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Jesus has not promised to build your ministry; he has promised to
build his church. You will share in Christ’s mission in the world.When Jesus
walked the earth, God worked through the physical body of
Christ; today he uses his spiritual body. The church is God’s
instrument on earth. We are not just to model God’s love by
loving each other; we are to carry it together to the rest of the
world. This is an incredible privilege we have been given together. As members of Christ’s body, we are his hands, his feet, his eyes,
and his heart. He works through us in the world. We each have a
contribution to make. Paul tells us, “He creates each of us by Christ
Jesus to join him in the work he does, the good work he has gotten
ready for us to do, work we had better be doing.”
21
A church family will help keep you from backsliding. None
of us are immune to temptation.


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Given the right situation, you
and I are capable of any sin. 22 God knows this, so he has assigned
us as individuals the responsibility of keeping each other on track. The Bible says, “Encourage one another daily .


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. so that none of you
may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.”
23 “Mind your own
business” is not a Christian phrase. We are called and commanded to
be involved in each other’s lives.


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If
you know someone who is wavering
spiritually right now, it is your
responsibility to go after them and
bring them back into the
fellowship. James tells us, “If you
know people who have wandered off from God’s truth, don’t write
them off. Go after them. Get them back.”
24
A related benefit of a local church is that it also provides the
spiritual protection of godly leaders. God gives shepherd leaders
the responsibility to guard, protect, defend, and care for the
spiritual welfare of his flock. 25 We are told, “Their work is to watch
over your souls, and they know they are accountable to God.”26
PURPOSE #2: Y ou W ere Formed for God’ s Family 135
Jesus has not promised to build
your ministry; he has promised
to build his church. Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       


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Satan loves detached believers, unplugged from the life of the
Body, isolated from God’s family, and unaccountable to spiritual
leaders, because he knows they are defenseless and powerless
against his tactics. It’s All in the Church
In my book The Purpose-Driven Church, I explain how being
part of a healthy church is essential to living a healthy life.


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I hope
you will read that book, too, because it will help you understand
how God designed his church specifically to help you
fulfill the five purposes he has for your life. He
created the church to meet your five deepest needs: a
purpose to live for, people to live with, principles to
live by, a profession to live out, and power to live
on. There is no other place on earth where you can
find all five of these benefits in one place.


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God’s purposes for his church are identical to his
five purposes for you. Worship helps you focus on God;
fellowship helps you face life’s problems; discipleship helps fortify
your faith; ministry helps find your talents; evangelism helps fulfill
your mission. There is nothing else on earth like the church! Your Choice
Whenever a child is born, he or she automatically becomes a
part of the universal family of human beings. But that child also
needs to become a member of a specific family to receive nurture
and care and grow up healthy and strong. The same is true
spiritually. When you were born again, you automatically became
a part of God’s universal family, but you also need to become a
member of a local expression of God’s family. The difference between being a church attender and a church
member is commitment. Attenders are spectators from the sidelines;
members get involved in the ministry. Attenders are consumers;
members are contributors. Attenders want the benefits of a church
The Purpose-Driven Life 136
       Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       


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PURPOSE #2: Y ou W ere Formed for God’ s Family 137
without sharing the responsibility. They are like couples who want
to live together without committing to a marriage. Why is it important to join a local church family? Because it
proves you are committed to your spiritual brothers and sisters in
reality, not just in theory. God wants you to lovereal people, not
ideal people.


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You are called to love imperfect
sinners, just as God does. In Acts, the Christians in Jerusalem were very specific in their
commitment to each other.


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They were devoted to fellowship. The
Bible says, “They committed themselves to the teaching of the apostles,
the life together, the common meal, and the prayers.”
27 God expects
you to commit to the same things today. The Christian life is more than just commitment to Christ; it
includes a commitment to other Christians. The Christians in
Macedonia understood this. Paul said, “First they gave themselves to
the Lord; and then, by God’s will, they gave themselves to us as well.”
28
Joining the membership of a local church is the natural next step
once you’ve become a child of God. You become a Christian by
committing yourself to Christ, but you become a church member
by committing yourself to a specific group of believers. The first
decision brings salvation; the second brings fellowship. Day Seventeen
Thinking about My Purpose
Point to Ponder: I am called to belong, not just believe. Verse to Remember: “In Christ we who are many form
one body, and each member belongs to all the others.” 
Romans 12:5 (NIV)
Question to Consider: Does my level of involvement
in my local church demonstrate that I love and am
committed to God’s family? Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       


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18
Experiencing Life T ogether
Each one of you is part of the body of Christ,
and you were chosen to live together in peace. Colossians 3:15 (CEV) 
How wonderful it is, how pleasant, for God’ s
people to live together in harmony! Psalm 133:1 (TEV)
Life is meant to be shared. God intends for us to experience life together. The Bible calls this
shared experience fellowship. Today, however, the word has lost
most of its biblical meaning. “Fellowship” now usually refers to
casual conversation, socializing, food, and fun. The question,
“Where do you fellowship?” means “Where do you attend church?”
“Stay after for fellowship” usually means “Wait for refreshments.”
Real fellowship is so much more than just showing up at
services. It is experiencing life together.


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It includes unselfish loving,
honest sharing, practical serving, sacrificial giving, sympathetic
comforting, and all the other “one another” commands found in
the New Testament. When it comes to fellowship, size matters: Smaller is better.


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You
can worship with a crowd, but you can’t fellowship with one. The Purpose-Driven Life 138
       Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       


key: original_content
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Once a group becomes larger than about ten people, someone
stops participating—usually the quietest person—and a few
people will dominate the group. Jesus ministered in the context of a small group of disciples. He
could have chosen more, but he knew twelve is about the
maximum size you can have in a small group if everyone is to
participate. The Body of Christ, like your own body, is really a collection of
many small cells.


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The life of the Body of Christ, like your body, is
contained in the cells. For this reason, every Christian needs to be
involved in a small group within their church, whether it is a
home fellowship group, a Sunday school class, or a Bible study. This is where real community takes place, not in the big
gatherings. If you think of your church as a ship, the small groups
are the lifeboats attached to it. God has made an incredible promise about small groups of
believers: “For where two or three have gathered together in My
name, I am there in their midst.”
1 Unfortunately, even being in a
small group does not guarantee you will experience real
community. Many Sunday school classes and small groups are
stuck in superficiality and have no clue as to what it’s like to
experience genuine fellowship.


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What is the difference
between real and fake fellowship? In real fellowship people experience
authenticity. Authentic fellowship is not superficial,
surface-level chit-chat. It is genuine, heart-to-heart,
sometimes gut-level, sharing.


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It happens when people
get honest about who they are and what is happening
in their lives. They share their hurts, reveal their
feelings, confess their failures, disclose their doubts, admit
their fears, acknowledge their weaknesses, and ask for help and
prayer. Authenticity is the exact opposite of what you find in some
churches. Instead of an atmosphere of honesty and humility, there
PURPOSE #2: Y ou W ere Formed for God’ s Family 139
       Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       


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is pretending, role-playing, politicking, and superficial politeness
but shallow conversation. People wear masks, keep their guard
up, and act as if everything is rosy in their lives. These attitudes
are the death of real fellowship. It is only as we become open about our lives that we experience
real fellowship. The Bible says, “If we live in the light, as God is in
the light, we can share fellowship with each other.... I f  w e  say we
have no sin, we are fooling ourselves.”
2 The world thinks intimacy
occurs in the dark, but God says it happens in the light. Darkness
is used to hide our hurts, faults,
fears, failures, and flaws. But in the
light, we bring them all out into the
open and admit who we really are. Of course, being authentic
requires both courage and humility. It means facing our fear of
exposure, rejection, and being hurt
again.


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Because it is the only way to grow spiritually and be
emotionally healthy. The Bible says, “Make this your common
practice: Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so
that you can live together whole and healed.”
3 We only grow by
taking risks, and the most difficult risk of all is to be honest with
ourselves and with others. In real fellowship people experience mutuality.


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Mutuality is
the art of giving and receiving. It’s depending on each other. The
Bible says, “The way God designed our bodies is a model for
understanding our lives together as a church: every part dependent
on every other part.”
4 Mutuality is the heart of fellowship:
building reciprocal relationships, sharing responsibilities, and
helping each other. Paul said, “I want us to help each other with the
faith we have. Your faith will help me, and my faith will help you.”
5
All of us are more consistent in our faith when others walk with
us and encourage us. The Bible commands mutual accountability,
The Purpose-Driven Life 140
Real fellowship happens 
when people get honest about
who they are and what is
happening in their lives. Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       


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mutual encouragement, mutual serving, and mutual honoring.6
Over fifty times in the New Testament we are commanded to do
different tasks to “one another” and “each other.” The Bible says,
“Make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual
edification.”
7
You are not responsible for everyone in the Body of Christ, but
you are responsible to them. God expects you to do whatever you
can to help them.


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In real fellowship people experience sympathy. Sympathy is
not giving advice or offering quick, cosmetic help; sympathy is
entering in and sharing the pain of others. Sympathy says, “I
understand what you’re going through, and what you feel is
neither strange nor crazy.” Today some call this “empathy,” but
the biblical word is “sympathy.” The Bible says, “As holy people . .


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. be sympathetic, kind, humble, gentle, and patient.”
8
Sympathy meets two fundamental human needs: the need to be
understood and the need to have your feelings validated. Every
time you understand and affirm someone’s feelings, you build
fellowship. The problem is that we are often in so much of a
hurry to fix things that we don’t have time to sympathize with
people.


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Or we’re preoccupied with our own hurts. Self-pity dries
up sympathy for others. There are different levels of fellowship, and each is appropriate
at different times. The simplest levels of fellowship are the
fellowship of sharing and the
fellowship of studying God’s Word
together. A deeper level is the
fellowship of serving, as when we
minister together on mission trips
or mercy projects. The deepest,
most intense level is the fellowship of
suffering,
9 where we enter into each
other’s pain and grief and carry each other’s burdens. The
Christians who understand this level best are those around the
PURPOSE #2: Y ou W ere Formed for God’ s Family 141
Every time you understand 
and affirm someone’ s feelings,
you build fellowship. Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       


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world who are being persecuted, despised, and often martyred for
their faith. The Bible commands: “Share each other’s troubles and problems,
and in this way obey the law of Christ.” 10 It is in the times of deep
crisis, grief, and doubt that we need each other most. When
circumstances crush us to the point that our faith falters, that’s
when we need believing friends the most.


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We need a small group
of friends to have faith in God for us and to pull us through. In a
small group, the Body of Christ is real and tangible even when
God seems distant. This is what Job desperately needed during his
suffering. He cried out, “A despairing man should have the
devotion of his friends, even though he forsakes the fear of the
Almighty.”
11
In real fellowship people experience mercy. Fellowship is a
place of grace, where mistakes aren’t rubbed in but rubbed out.


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Fellowship happens when mercy wins over justice. We all need mercy, because we all stumble and fall and require
help getting back on track. We need to offer mercy to each other
and be willing to receive it from each other. God says, “When
people sin, you should forgive and comfort them, so they won’t give up
in despair.”
12
You can’t have fellowship without forgiveness. God warns,
“Never hold grudges,”13 because bitterness and resentment always
destroy fellowship. Because we’re imperfect,
sinful people, we inevitably hurt each other
when we’re together for a long enough time. Sometimes we hurt each other intentionally
and sometimes unintentionally, but either
way, it takes massive amounts of mercy and grace to create and
maintain fellowship. The Bible says, “You must make allowance for
each other’s faults and forgive the person who offends you.


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Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others.”
14
God’s mercy to us is the motivation for showing mercy to
others. Remember, you will never be asked to forgive someone
The Purpose-Driven Life 142
DAY EIGHTEEN:
EXPERIENCING
LIFE TOGETHER
       Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       


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else more than God has already forgiven you. Whenever you are
hurt by someone, you have a choice to make: Will I use my
energy and emotions for retaliation or for resolution? You can’t
do both.


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Many people are reluctant to show mercy because they don’t
understand the difference between trust and forgiveness. Forgiveness is letting go of the past. Trust has to do
with future behavior. Forgiveness must be immediate, whether or not a
person asks for it. Trust must be rebuilt over time. Trust requires a track record. If someone hurts you
repeatedly, you are commanded by God to forgive
them instantly, but you are not expected to trust them
immediately, and you are not expected to continue allowing them
to hurt you. They must prove they have changed over time.


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The
best place to restore trust is within the supportive context of a
small group that offers both encouragement and accountability. There are many other benefits you will experience in being a
part of a small group committed to real fellowship.


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It is an
essential part of your Christian life that you cannot overlook. For
over 2,000 years Christians have regularly gathered in small
groups for fellowship. If you’ve never been a part of a group or
class like this, you really don’t know what you’re missing. In the next chapter we will look at what it takes to create this
kind of community with other believers, but I hope this chapter
has made you hungry to experience the authenticity, mutuality,
sympathy, and mercy of real fellowship. You were created for
community. PURPOSE #2: Y ou W ere Formed for God’ s Family 143
       Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       


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The Purpose-Driven Life 144
Day Eighteen
Thinking about My Purpose
Point to Ponder: I need others in my life. Verse to Remember: “Share each other’s troubles and
problems, and in this way obey the law of Christ.” 
Galatians 6:2 (NLT)
Question to Consider: What one step can I take today
to connect with another believer at a more genuine,
heart-to-heart level?


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19
Cultivating Community
You can develop a healthy, robust community
that lives right with God and enjoy its 
results only if you do the hard work 
of getting along with each other, treating 
each other with dignity and honor. James 3:18 (Msg)
They committed themselves to the teaching 
of the apostles, the life together, 
the common meal, and the prayers.


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Acts 2:42 (Msg)
Community requires commitment. Only the Holy Spirit can create real fellowship between
believers, but he cultivates it with the choices and commitments
we make. Paul points out this dual responsibility when he says,
“You are joined together with peace through the Spirit, so make every
effort to continue together in this way.”
1 It takes both God’s power
and our effort to produce a loving Christian community. Unfortunately, many people grow up in families with unhealthy
relationships, so they lack the relational skills needed for real
fellowship. They must be taught how to get along with and relate
PURPOSE #2: Y ou W ere Formed for God’ s Family 145
       Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       


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to others in God’s family. Fortunately, the New Testament is filled
with instruction on how to share life together. Paul wrote, “I am
writing these things to you . .


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. [so] you will know how to live in the
family of God. That family is the church.”
2
If you’re tired of fake fellowship and you would like to cultivate
real fellowship and a loving community in your small group,
Sunday school class, and church, you’ll need to make some tough
choices and take some risks. Cultivating community takes honesty.


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You will have to care
enough to lovingly speak the truth, even when you would rather
gloss over a problem or ignore an issue. While it is much easier to
remain silent when others around us are harming themselves or
others with a sinful pattern, it is not the loving thing to do. Most
people have no one in their lives who loves them
enough to tell them the truth (even when it’s
painful), so they continue in self-destructive ways. Often we know what needs to be said to someone,
but our fears prevent us from saying anything. Many fellowships have been sabotaged by fear: No
one had the courage to speak up in the group while a
member’s life fell apart. The Bible tells us to “speak the truth in love”
3
because we can’t have community without candor. Solomon said,
“An honest answer is a sign of true friendship.”
4 Sometimes this
means caring enough to lovingly confront one who is sinning or
is being tempted to sin. Paul says, “Brothers and sisters, if someone
in your group does something wrong, you who are spiritual should go
to that person and gently help make him right again.”
5
Many church fellowships and small groups remain superficial
because they are afraid of conflict. Whenever an issue pops up that
might cause tension or discomfort, it is immediately glossed over
in order to preserve a false sense of peace.


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Mr. “Don’t Rock the
Boat” jumps in and tries to smooth everyone’s ruffled feathers,
the issue is never resolved, and everyone lives with an underlying
The Purpose-Driven Life 146
       Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       


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frustration. Everyone knows about the problem, but no one talks
about it openly. This creates a sick environment of secrets where
gossip thrives. Paul’s solution was straightforward:“No more lies,
no more pretense. Tell your neighbor the truth. In Christ’s body we’re
all connected to each other, after all. When you lie to others, you end up
lying to yourself.”
6
Real fellowship, whether in a
marriage, a friendship, or your
church, depends on frankness. In
fact, the tunnel of conflict is the
passageway to intimacy in any
relationship. Until you care enough to confront and resolve the
underlying barriers, you will never grow close to each other. When conflict is handled correctly, we grow closer to each other
by facing and resolving our differences. The Bible says, “In the
end, people appreciate frankness more than flattery.”
7
Frankness is not a license to say anything you want, wherever
and whenever you want. It is not rudeness. The Bible tells us
there is a right time and a right way to do everything. 8
Thoughtless words leave lasting wounds. God tells us to speak to
each other in the church as loving family members: “Never use
harsh words when you correct an older man, but talk to him as if he
were your father. Talk to younger men as if they were your brothers,
older women as if they were your mothers, and younger women as if
they were your sisters.”
9
Sadly, thousands of fellowships have been destroyed by a lack of
honesty. Paul had to rebuke the Corinthian church for their passive
code of silence in allowing immorality in their fellowship. Since no
one had the courage to confront it, he said, “You must not simply
look the other way and hope it goes away on its own. Bring it out in the
open and deal with it. .


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. you shouldn’t act as if everything is just fine when one of your
PURPOSE #2: Y ou W ere Formed for God’ s Family 147
When conflict is 
handled correctly, 
we grow closer to each other. Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       


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Christian companions is promiscuous or crooked, is flip with God or
rude to friends, gets drunk or becomes greedy and predatory. You can’t
just go along with this, treating it as acceptable behavior. I’m not
responsible for what the outsiders do, but don’t we have some
responsibility for those within our community of believers?”
10
Cultivating community takes humility. Self-importance,
smugness, and stubborn pride destroy fellowship faster than
anything else.


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Pride builds walls between people; humility builds
bridges. Humility is the oil that smoothes and soothes
relationships. That’s why the Bible says, “Clothe yourselves with
humility toward one another.”
11 The proper dress for fellowship is
a humble attitude. The rest of that verse says, “.


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. because, God opposes the proud
but gives grace to the humble.” 12 This is the other reason we need
to be humble: Pride blocks God’s grace in our lives, which we
must have in order to grow, change, heal, and help others. We
receive God’s grace by humbly admitting that we need it. The
Bible says anytime we are prideful, we are living in opposition to
God! That is a foolish and dangerous way to live. You can develop humility in very practical ways: by admitting
your weaknesses, by being patient with others’ weaknesses, by
being open to correction, and by
pointing the spotlight on others. Paul advised, “Live in harmony with
each other. Don’t try to act
important, but enjoy the company of
ordinary people. And don’t think you
know it all!”
13 To the Christians in
Philippi he wrote, “Give more honor
to others than to yourselves. Do not be interested only in your own
life, but be interested in the lives of others.”
14
Humility is not thinking less of yourself; it is thinking of
yourself less. Humility is thinking more of others. Humble people
are so focused on serving others, they don’t think of themselves. The Purpose-Driven Life 148
Humility is not thinking 
less of yourself; it is thinking 
of yourself less. Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       


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Cultivating community takes courtesy. Courtesy is
respecting our differences, being considerate of each other’s
feelings, and being patient with people who irritate us. The Bible
says, “We must bear the ‘burden’ of being considerate of the doubts
and fears of others.” 15 Paul told Titus, “God’s
people should be bighearted and courteous.” 16
In every church and in every small group,
there is always at least one “difficult” person,
usually more than one. These people may have
special emotional needs, deep insecurities, irritating mannerisms,
or poor social skills. You might call them EGR people—“Extra
Grace Required.”
God put these people in our midst for both their benefit and
ours. They are an opportunity for growth and a test of fellowship:
Will we love them as brothers and sisters and treat them with
dignity? In a family, acceptance isn’t based on how smart or beautiful or
talented you are.


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It’s based on the fact that we belong to each
other. We defend and protect family. A family member may be a
little goofy, but she’s one of us. In the same way, the Bible says,
“Be devoted to each other like a loving family. Excel in showing
respect for each other.”
17
The truth is, we all have quirks and annoying traits. But
community has nothing to do with compatibility. The basis for
our fellowship is our relationship to God: We’re family. One key to courtesy is to understand where people are coming
from.


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When you know what they’ve been
through, you will be more understanding. Instead of thinking
about how far they still have to go, think about how far they have
come in spite of their hurts. Another part of courtesy is not downplaying other people’s
doubts. Just because you don’t fear something doesn’t make it an
invalid feeling. Real community happens when people know it is
safe enough to share their doubts and fears without being judged. PURPOSE #2: Y ou W ere Formed for God’ s Family 149
DAY NINETEEN:
CULTIVATING
COMMUNITY
       Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       


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Cultivating community takes confidentiality. Only in the
safe environment of warm acceptance and trusted confidentiality
will people open up and share their deepest hurts, needs, and
mistakes. Confidentiality does not mean keeping silent while your
brother or sister sins. It means that what is shared in your group
needs to stay in your group, and the group needs to deal with it,
not gossip to others about it.


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God hates gossip, especially when it is thinly disguised as a
“prayer request” for someone else. God says, “Gossip is spread by
wicked people; they stir up trouble
and break up friendships.”
18 Gossip
always causes hurt and divisions,
and it destroys fellowship, and God
is very clear that we are to confront
those who cause division among
Christians. 19 They may get mad and
leave your group or church if you
confront them about their divisive actions, but the fellowship of
the church is more important than any individual.


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You must have
frequent, regular contact with your group in order to build
genuine fellowship. Relationships take time. The Bible tells us,
“Let us not give up the habit of meeting together, as some are doing. Instead, let us encourage one another.”
20 We are to develop the
habit of meeting together. A habit is something you do with
frequency, not occasionally. You have to spend time with
people—a  lot of time— to build deep relationships. This is why
fellowship is so shallow in many churches; we don’t spend enough
time together, and the time we do spend is usually listening to
one person speak. Community is built not on convenience (“we’ll get together
when I feel like it”) but on the conviction that I need it for
spiritual health. If you want to cultivate real fellowship, it will
mean meeting together even when you don’t feel like it, because
The Purpose-Driven Life 150
The fellowship of the church 
is more important than 
any individual. Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       


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PURPOSE #2: Y ou W ere Formed for God’ s Family 151
you believe it is important. The first Christians met together every
day! “They worshiped together regularly at the Temple each day, met
in small groups in homes for Communion, and shared their meals
with great joy and thankfulness.”
21 Fellowship requires an
investment of time. If you are a member of a small group or class, I urge you to
make a group covenant that includes the nine characteristics of
biblical fellowship: We will share our true feelings (authenticity),
encourage each other (mutuality), support each other (sympathy),
forgive each other (mercy), speak the truth in love (honesty),
admit our weaknesses (humility), respect our differences,
(courtesy), not gossip (confidentiality), and make group a priority
(frequency). When you look at the list of characteristics, it is obvious why
genuine fellowship is so rare. It means giving up our self-
centeredness and independence in order to become
interdependent.


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But the benefits of sharing life together far
outweigh the costs, and it prepares us for heaven. Day Nineteen
Thinking about My Purpose
Point to Ponder: Community requires commitment. Verse to Remember:“We understand what love is when
we realize that Christ gave his life for us.


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That means we
must give our lives for other believers.” 1 John 3:16 (GWT)
Question to Consider: How can I help cultivate today
the characteristics of real community in my small group
and my church? Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       


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20
Restoring Broken Fellowship
[God] has restored our relationship 
with him through Christ, and has given 
us this ministry of restoring relationships. 2 Corinthians 5:18 (GWT)
Relationships are always worth restoring. Because life is all about learning how to love, God wants us to
value relationships and make the effort to maintain them instead of
discarding them whenever there is a rift, a hurt, or a conflict. In fact,
the Bible tells us that God has given us the ministry of restoring
relationships. 1 For this reason a significant amount of the New
Testament is devoted to teaching us how to get along with one
another. Paul wrote, “If you’ve gotten anything at all out of following
Christ, if his love has made any difference in your life, if being in a
community of the Spirit means anything to you, .


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. Agree with each
other, love each other, be deep-spirited friends.”
2 Paul taught that our
ability to get along with others is a mark of spiritual maturity.3
Since Christ wants his family to be known for our love for each
other,4 broken fellowship is a disgraceful testimony to unbelievers. The Purpose-Driven Life 152
       Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       


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This is why Paul was so embarrassed that the members of the
church in Corinth were splitting into warring factions and even
taking each other to court. He wrote, “Shame on you! Surely there
is at least one wise person in your fellowship who can settle a dispute
between fellow Christians.”
5 He was shocked that no one in the
church was mature enough to resolve the conflict peaceably. In
the same letter, he said, “I’ll put it as urgently as I can: You must
get along with each other.”
6
If you want God’s blessing on your life and you want to be
known as a child of God, you must learn to be a peacemaker. Jesus said, “God blesses those who work for peace, for they will be
called the children of God.”
7 Notice Jesus didn’t say, “Blessed are
the peace lovers,” because everyone loves peace. Neither did he
say, “Blessed are the peaceable,” who are never disturbed by
anything. Jesus said, “Blessed are those who work for peace”—
those who actively seek to resolve conflict. Peacemakers are rare
because peacemaking is hard work. Because you were formed to be a part of God’s family and the
second purpose of your life on earth is to learn how to love and
relate to others, peacemaking is one of the most important skills
you can develop. Unfortunately, most of us were never taught
how to resolve conflict.


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Peacemaking is not avoiding conflict. Running from a problem,
pretending it doesn’t exist, or being afraid to talk about it
is actually cowardice. Jesus, the Prince of Peace, was
never afraid of conflict. On occasion he provoked it
for the good of everyone.


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Sometimes we need to
avoid conflict, sometimes we need to create it, and
sometimes we need to resolve it. That’s why we must
pray for the Holy Spirit’s continual guidance. Peacemaking is also not appeasement. Always giving
in, acting like a doormat, and allowing others to always run
over you is not what Jesus had in mind.


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He refused to back down
on many issues, standing his ground in the face of evil opposition. PURPOSE #2: Y ou W ere Formed for God’ s Family 153
       Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       


key: original_content
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How to Restore a Relationship
As believers, God has “called us to settle our relationships with
each other.”8 Here are seven biblical steps to restoring fellowship:
Talk to God before talking to the person. Discuss the
problem with God. If you will pray about the conflict first instead
of gossiping to a friend, you will often discover that either God
changes your heart or he changes the other person without your
help. All your relationships would go smoother if
you would just pray more about them. As David did with his psalms, use prayer to
ventilate vertically. Tell God your frustrations. Cry out to him. He’s never surprised or upset by
your anger, hurt, insecurity, or any other
emotions. So tell him exactly how you feel. Most conflict is rooted in unmet needs. Some of these needs
can only be met by God. When you expect anyone—a friend,
spouse, boss, or family member—to meet a need that only God
can fulfill, you are setting yourself up for disappointment and
bitterness. No one can meet all of your needs except God. The apostle James noted that many of our conflicts are caused
by prayerlessness: “What causes fights and quarrels among you? .


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. You do not have, because
you do not ask God.”
9 Instead of looking to God, we look to
others to make us happy and then get angry when they fail us. God says, “Why don’t you come to me first?”
Always take the initiative. It doesn’t matter whether you are
the offender or the offended: God expects you to make the first
move. Don’t wait for the other party. Go to them first. Restoring
broken fellowship is so important, Jesus commanded that it even
take priority over group worship. He said, “If you enter your place
of worship and, about to make an offering, you suddenly remember a
grudge a friend has against you, abandon your offering, leave
immediately, go to this friend and make things right. Then and only
then, come back and work things out with God.”
10
The Purpose-Driven Life 154
DAY TWENTY:
RESTORING
BROKEN
FELLOWSHIP
       Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       


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When fellowship is strained or broken, plan a peace conference
immediately. Don’t procrastinate, make excuses, or promise “I’ll
get around to it someday.” Schedule a face-to-face meeting as
soon as possible. Delay only deepens resentment and makes
matters worse. In conflict, time heals nothing; it causes hurts to
fester. Acting quickly also reduces the spiritual damage to you. The
Bible says sin, including unresolved conflict, blocks our fellowship
with God and keeps our prayers from being answered,
11 besides
making us miserable. Job’s friends reminded him, “To worry
yourself to death with resentment would be a foolish, senseless thing to
do” and “You are only hurting yourself with your anger.”
12
The success of a peace conference often depends on choosing
the right time and place to meet. Don’t meet when either of you
are tired or rushed or will be interrupted.


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The best time is when
you both are at your best. Sympathize with their feelings. Use your ears more than your
mouth. Before attempting to solve any disagreement you must
first listen to people’s feelings. Paul
advised, “Look out for one another’s
interests, not just for your own.”
13
The phrase “look out for” is the
Greek word skopos, from which we
form our words telescope and
microscope. It means pay close
attention!


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Focus on their feelings, not the facts. Begin with
sympathy, not solutions. Don’t try to talk people out of how they feel at first. Just listen
and let them unload emotionally without being defensive. Nod
that you understand even when you don’t agree.


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Feelings are not
always true or logical. In fact, resentment makes us act and think
in foolish ways. David admitted, “When my thoughts were bitter
and my feelings were hurt, I was as stupid as an animal.”
14 We all
act beastly when hurt. PURPOSE #2: Y ou W ere Formed for God’ s Family 155
God expects you to make 
the first move.


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In contrast, the Bible says, “A man’s wisdom gives him patience;
it is to his glory to overlook an offense.” 15 Patience comes from
wisdom, and wisdom comes from hearing the perspective of
others. Listening says, “I value your opinion, I care about our
relationship, and you matter to me.” The cliché is true: People
don’t care what we know until they know we care. To restore fellowship “we must bear the ‘burden’ of being
considerate of the doubts and fears of others. .


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. Let’s please the other
fellow, not ourselves, and do what is for his good.”
16 It is a sacrifice
to patiently absorb the anger of others, especially if it’s
unfounded. But remember, this is what Jesus did for you. He
endured unfounded, malicious anger in order to save you: “Christ
did not indulge his own feelings . .


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. as scripture says: The insults of
those who insult you fall on me.”
17
Confess your part of the conflict. If you are serious about
restoring a relationship, you should begin with admitting your
own mistakes or sin. Jesus said it’s the way to see things
more clearly: “First get rid of the log from your own eye;
then perhaps you will see well enough to deal with the
speck in your friend’s eye.”18
Since we all have blind spots, you may need to
ask a third party to help you evaluate your own
actions before meeting with the person with whom
you have a conflict. Also ask God to show you how
much of the problem is your fault. Ask, “Am I the
problem? Am I being unrealistic, insensitive, or too sensitive?”
The Bible says, “If we claim that we’re free of sin, we’re only fooling
ourselves.”
19
Confession is a powerful tool for reconciliation. Often the way
we handle a conflict creates a bigger hurt than the original
problem itself. When you begin by humbly admitting your
mistakes, it defuses the other person’s anger and disarms their
attack because they were probably expecting you to be defensive. Don’t make excuses or shift the blame; just honestly own up to
The Purpose-Driven Life 156
       Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       


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any part you have played in the conflict. Accept responsibility for
your mistakes and ask for forgiveness. Attack the problem, not the person. You cannot fix the
problem if you’re consumed with fixing the blame.


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You must
choose between the two. The Bible says, “A gentle response defuses
anger, but a sharp tongue kindles a temper-fire.”
20 You will never
get your point across by being cross, so choose your words wisely. A soft answer is always better than a sarcastic one. In resolving conflict, how you say it is as important as what you
say.


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If you say it offensively, it will be received defensively. God
tells us, “A wise, mature person is
known for his understanding. The
more pleasant his words, the more
persuasive he is.”
21 Nagging never
works.


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You are never persuasive
when you’re abrasive. During the Cold War, both sides
agreed that some weapons were so
destructive they should never be used. Today chemical and
biological weapons are banned, and the stockpiles of nuclear
weapons are being reduced and destroyed. For the sake of
fellowship, you must destroy your arsenal of relational nuclear
weapons, including condemning, belittling, comparing, labeling,
insulting, condescending, and being sarcastic. Paul sums it up this
way: “Do not use harmful words, but only helpful words, the kind
that build up and provide what is needed, so that what you say will
do good to those who hear you.”
22
Cooperate as much as possible. Paul said, “Do everything
possible on your part to live in peace with everybody.” 23 Peace always
has a price tag. Sometimes it costs our pride; it often costs our
self-centeredness. For the sake of fellowship, do your best to
compromise, adjust to others, and show preference to what they
need. 24 A paraphrase of Jesus’ seventh beatitude says, “You’re
blessed when you can show people how to cooperate instead of compete
PURPOSE #2: Y ou W ere Formed for God’ s Family 157
In resolving conflict, 
how you say it is as 
important as what you say. Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       


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or fight. That’s when you discover who you really are, and your place
in God’s family.”25
Emphasize reconciliation, not resolution. It is unrealistic to
expect everyone to agree about everything. Reconciliation focuses
on the relationship, while resolution focuses on the problem. When we focus on reconciliation, the problem loses significance
and often becomes irrelevant. We can reestablish a relationship even when we are unable to
resolve our differences. Christians often have legitimate, honest
disagreements and differing opinions, but we can disagree
without being disagreeable. The same diamond looks different
from different angles. God expects unity, not uniformity, and we
can walk arm-in-arm without seeing eye-to-eye on every issue. This doesn’t mean you give up on finding a solution.


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You may
need to continue discussing and even debating—but you do it in
a spirit of harmony. Reconciliation means you bury the hatchet,
not necessarily the issue. Who do you need to contact as a result of this chapter?


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With
whom do you need to restore fellowship? Don’t delay another
second. Pause right now and talk to
God about that person. Then pick
up the phone and begin the
process. These seven steps are
simple, but they are not easy.


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It
takes a lot of effort to restore a
relationship. That’s why Peter
urged, “Work hard at living in peace
with others.”
26 But when you work for peace, you are doing what
God would do. That’s why God calls peacemakers his children.27
The Purpose-Driven Life 158
Reconciliation focuses on the
relationship, while resolution
focuses on the problem. Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       


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PURPOSE #2: Y ou W ere Formed for God’ s Family 159
Day Twenty
Thinking about My Purpose
Point to Ponder: Relationships are always worth
restoring. Verse to Remember: “Do everything possible on your
part to live in peace with everybody.” 
Romans 12:18 (TEV)
Question to Consider: Who do I need to restore a
broken relationship with today?


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21
Protecting Y our Church
You are joined together with peace 
through the Spirit, so make every effort 
to continue together in this way. Ephesians 4:3 (NCV) 
Most of all, let love guide your life, 
for then the whole church will 
stay together in perfect harmony. Colossians 3:14 (LB)
It is your job to protect the unity of your church. Unity in the church is so important that the New Testament
gives more attention to it than to either heaven or hell.


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God
deeply desires that we experience oneness and harmony with each
other. Unity is the soul of fellowship. Destroy it, and you rip the heart
out of Christ’s Body. It is the essence, the core, of how God
intends for us to experience life together in his church.


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Our
supreme model for unity is the Trinity. The Father, Son, and Holy
Spirit are completely unified as one. God himself is the highest
example of sacrificial love, humble other-centeredness, and perfect
harmony. The Purpose-Driven Life 160
       Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       


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Just like every parent, our heavenly Father enjoys watching his
children get along with each other. In his final moments before
being arrested, Jesus prayed passionately for our unity.1 It was our
unity that was uppermost in his mind during those agonizing
hours. That shows how significant this subject is.


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Nothing on earth is more valuable to God than his church. He
paid the highest price for it, and he wants it protected, especially
from the devastating damage that is
caused by division, conflict, and
disharmony. If you are a part of
God’s family, it is your
responsibility to protect the unity
where you fellowship. You are
commissioned by Jesus Christ to do
everything possible to preserve the unity, protect the fellowship,
and promote harmony in your church family and among all
believers. The Bible says, “Make every effort to keep the unity of the
Spirit through the bond of peace.”
2 How are we to do this? The
Bible gives us practical advice. Focus on what we have in common, not our differences. Paul tells us, “Let us concentrate on the things which make for
harmony, and on the growth of one another’s character.”3 As
believers we share one Lord, one body, one purpose, one Father,
one Spirit, one hope, one faith, one baptism, and one love. 4 We
share the same salvation, the same life, and the same future—
factors far more important than any differences we could
enumerate.


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These are the issues, not our personal differences, 
that we should concentrate on. We must remember that it was God who chose to give us
different personalities, backgrounds, races, and preferences, so we
should value and enjoy those differences, not merely tolerate
them. God wants unity, not uniformity.


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But for unity’s sake we
must never let differences divide us. We must stay focused on
what matters most—learning to love each other as Christ has
PURPOSE #2: Y ou W ere Formed for God’ s Family 161
Nothing on earth is more
valuable to God than his church. Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       


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loved us, and fulfilling God’s five purposes for each of us and his
church. Conflict is usually a sign that the focus has shifted to less
important issues, things the Bible calls “disputable matters.”5
When we focus on personalities, preferences, interpretations,
styles, or methods, division always happens. But if we concentrate
on loving each other and fulfilling God’s purposes, harmony
results.


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Paul pleaded for this: “Let there be real harmony so there
won’t be divisions in the church. I plead with you to be of one mind,
united in thought and purpose.”
6
Be realistic in your expectations. Once you discover what
God intends real fellowship to be, it is easy to become
discouraged by the gap between the ideal and the real in your
church. Yet we must passionately love the church in spite of its
imperfections. Longing for the ideal while criticizing the real is
evidence of immaturity. On the other hand, settling for the real
without striving for the ideal is complacency.


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Maturity is living
with the tension. Other believers will disappoint you and let you down, but
that’s no excuse to stop fellowshiping with them. They are your
family, even when they don’t act
like it, and you can’t just walk out
on them. Instead God tells us, “Be
patient with each other, making
allowance for each other’s faults
because of your love.”
7
People become disillusioned
with the church for many
understandable reasons. The list could be quite long: conflict,
hurt, hypocrisy, neglect, pettiness, legalism, and other sins. Rather than being shocked and surprised, we must remember
that the church is made up of real sinners, including ourselves.


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Because we’re sinners, we hurt each other, sometimes
intentionally and sometimes unintentionally. But instead of
The Purpose-Driven Life 162
We must passionately love 
the church in spite 
of its imperfections. Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       


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leaving the church, we need to stay and work it out if at all
possible. Reconciliation, not running away, is the road to
stronger character and deeper fellowship. Divorcing your church at the first sign of disappointment or
disillusionment is a mark of immaturity.


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Besides, there is no perfect church
to escape to. Every church has its own set of weaknesses and
problems. You’ll soon be disappointed again. Groucho Marx was famous for saying he wouldn’t want to
belong to any club that would let him in. If a church must be
perfect to satisfy you, that same perfection will exclude you from
membership, because you’re not perfect! Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the German pastor who was martyred for
resisting Nazis, wrote a classic book on fellowship, Life Together. In it he suggests that disillusionment with our local church is a
good thing because it destroys our false expectations of
perfection. The sooner we give up the illusion that a church must
be perfect in order to love it, the sooner we quit pretending and
start admitting we’re all imperfect and need grace. This is the
beginning of real community. Every church could put out a sign “No perfect people need
apply. This is a place only for those who admit they are sinners,
need grace, and want to grow.”
Bonhoeffer said, “He who loves his dream of community more
than the Christian community itself becomes a destroyer of the
latter.... I f  w e  d o  n o t  give thanks daily for the Christian
fellowship in which we have been placed, even when there is no
great experience, no discoverable riches, but much weakness,
small faith, and difficulty; if on the contrary, we keep complaining
that everything is paltry and petty, then we hinder God from
letting our fellowship grow.”
8
Choose to encourage rather than criticize.


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It is always easier
to stand on the sidelines and take shots at those who are serving
than it is to get involved and make a contribution. God warns us
PURPOSE #2: Y ou W ere Formed for God’ s Family 163
       Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       


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over and over not to criticize, compare, or judge each other.9
When you criticize what another believer is doing in faith and
from sincere conviction, you are interfering with God’s business:
“What right do you have to criticize someone else’s servants? Only
their Lord can decide if they are doing right.”
10
Paul adds that we must not stand in judgment or look down on
other believers whose convictions differ from our own: “Why,
then, criticise your brother’s actions, why try to make him look small? We shall all be judged one day, not by each other’s standards or even
our own, but by the standard of Christ.”
11
Whenever I judge another believer, four things instantly happen:
I lose fellowship with God, I expose my own pride and insecurity, I
set myself up to be judged by God, and I harm the fellowship of
the church. A critical spirit is a costly vice. The Bible calls Satan “the accuser of our
brothers.”
12 It’s the Devil’s job to blame,
complain, and criticize members of God’s family. Anytime we do the same, we’re being duped
into doing Satan’s work for him.


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Remember,
other Christians, no matter how much you disagree with them,
are not the real enemy. Any time we spend comparing or
criticizing other believers is time that should have been spent
building the unity of our fellowship. The Bible says, “Let’s agree to
use all our energy in getting along with each other. Help others with
encouraging words; don’t drag them down by finding fault.”
13
Refuse to listen to gossip. Gossip is passing on information
when you are neither part of the problem nor part of the
solution. You know spreading gossip is wrong, but you should
not listen to it, either, if you want to protect your church. Listening to gossip is like accepting stolen property, and it makes
you just as guilty of the crime. When someone begins to gossip to you, have the courage to
say, “Please stop.


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I don’t need to know this. Have you talked
directly to that person?” People who gossip to you will also gossip
The Purpose-Driven Life 164
DAY TWENTY-ONE:
PROTECTING
YOUR
CHURCH
       Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       


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They cannot be trusted. If you listen to gossip, God
says you are a troublemaker.14 “Troublemakers listen to
troublemakers.”15 “These are the ones who split churches, thinking
only of themselves.”16
It is sad that in God’s flock, the greatest wounds usually come
from other sheep, not wolves. Paul warned about “cannibal
Christians” who “devour one another” and destroy the
fellowship.17 The Bible says these kind of troublemakers should be
avoided. “A gossip reveals secrets; therefore do not associate with a
babbler.”18 The fastest way to end a church or small group conflict
is to lovingly confront those who are gossiping and insist they
stop it. Solomon pointed out, “Fire goes out for lack of fuel, and
tensions disappear when gossip stops.”
19
Practice God’s method for conflict resolution.In addition
to the principles mentioned in the last chapter, Jesus gave the
church a simple three-step process: “If a fellow believer hurts you,
go and tell him—work it out between the two of you. If he listens,
you’ve made a friend.


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If he won’t listen, take one or two others along
so that the presence of witnesses will keep things honest, and try
again. If he still won’t listen, tell the church.”
20
During conflict, it is tempting to complain to a third party
rather than courageously speak the truth in love to the person
you’re upset with. This makes the matter worse.


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Instead, you
should go directly to the person involved. Private confrontation is always the first step, and you
should take it as soon as possible. If you’re unable to
work things out between the two of you, the next
step is to take one or two witnesses to help confirm
the problem and reconcile the relationship. What should
you do if the person is still stuck in stubbornness? Jesus
says to take it to the church. If the person still refuses to
listen after that, you should treat that person like an unbeliever. 21
Support your pastor and leaders. There are no perfect
leaders, but God gives leaders the responsibility and the authority
PURPOSE #2: Y ou W ere Formed for God’ s Family 165
       Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       


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to maintain the unity of the church. During interpersonal
conflicts that is a thankless job. Pastors often have the unpleasant
task of serving as mediator between hurt, conflicting, or
immature members. They’re also given the impossible task of
trying to make everyone happy, which even Jesus could not do! The Bible is clear about how we are to relate to those who
serve us: “Be responsive to your pastoral leaders. Listen to their
counsel.


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They are alert to the condition of your lives and work under
the strict supervision of God. Contribute to the joy of their
leadership, not its drudgery. Why
would you want to make things
harder for them?”
22
Pastors will one day stand before
God and give an account of how
well they watched over you. “They
keep watch over you as men who must give an account.”
23 But you
are accountable, too. You will give an account to God of how well
you followed your leaders. The Bible gives pastors very specific instructions on how to
deal with divisive people in the fellowship. They are to avoid
arguing, gently teach the opposition while praying they’ll change,
warn those who are argumentative, plead for harmony and unity,
rebuke those who are disrespectful of leadership, and remove
divisive people from the church if they ignore two warnings. 24
We protect the fellowship when we honor those who serve us
by leading.


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Pastors and elders need our prayers, encouragement,
appreciation, and love. We are commanded, “Honor those leaders
who work so hard for you, who have been given the responsibility of
urging and guiding you along in your obedience. Overwhelm them
with appreciation and love!”
25
I challenge you to accept your responsibility to protect and
promote the unity of your church. Put your full effort into it, and
God will be pleased.


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It will not always be easy. Sometimes you will
The Purpose-Driven Life 166
We protect the fellowship 
when we honor those 
who serve us by leading. Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       


key: original_content
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PURPOSE #2: Y ou W ere Formed for God’ s Family 167
have to do what’s best for the Body, not yourself, showing
preference to others. That’s one reason God puts us in a church
family—to learn unselfishness. In community we learn to say
“we” instead of “I,” and “our” instead of “mine.” God says,
“Don’t think only of your own good. Think of other Christians and
what is best for them.”
26
God blesses churches that are unified. At Saddleback Church,
every member signs a covenant that includes a promise to protect
the unity of our fellowship. As a result, the church has never had a
conflict that split the fellowship.


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Just as important, because it is a
loving, unified fellowship, a lot of people want to be a part of it! In the past seven years, the church has baptized over 9,100 new
believers. When God has a bunch of baby believers he wants to
deliver, he looks for the warmest incubator church he can find. What are you doing personally to make your church family
more warm and loving?


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There are many people in your
community who are looking for love and a place to belong. The
truth is, everyone needs and wants to be loved, and when people
find a church where members genuinely love and care for each
other, you would have to lock the doors to keep them away. Day Twenty-one
Thinking about My Purpose
Point to Ponder: It is my responsibility to protect the
unity of my church. Verse to Remember: “Let us concentrate on the things
which make for harmony and the growth of our fellowship
together.”  Romans 14:19 (Ph)
Question to Consider: What am I personally doing to
protect unity in my church family right now? Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       


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YOU WERE CREATED 
TO BECOME LIKE CHRIST
Let your roots grow down into Christ 
and draw up nourishment from him.


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See that you go on growing in the Lord, 
and become strong and vigorous in the truth. Colossians 2:7 (LB) 
PURPOSE #3
       Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       


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22
Created to Become Like Christ
God knew what he was doing from the 
very beginning. He decided from the outset 
to shape the lives of those who love him 
along the same lines as the life of his Son. .


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. We see the original and intended shape 
of our lives there in him. Romans 8:29 (Msg)
We look at this Son and see God’ s original
purpose in everything created. Colossians 1:15 (Msg)
You were created to become like Christ. From the very beginning, God’s plan has been to make you like
his Son, Jesus. This is your destiny and the third purpose of your
life. God announced this intention at Creation: “Then God said,
‘Let us make human beings in our image and likeness.’”1
In all of creation, only human beings, are made “in God’s
image.” This is a great privilege and gives us dignity. We don’t
know all this phrase covers, but we do know some of the aspects
it includes: Like God, we are spiritual beings— our spirits are
PURPOSE #3: Y ou W ere Created to Become Like Christ 171
       Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       


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immortal and will outlast our earthly bodies; we are intellectual—
we can think, reason, and solve problems; like God, we are
relational— we can give and receive real love; and we have a
moral consciousness— we can discern right from wrong, which
makes us accountable to God. The Bible says that all people, not just believers, possess part of
the image of God; that is why murder and abortion are wrong.2
But the image is incomplete and has been damaged and distorted
by sin. So God sent Jesus on a mission to restore the full image
that we have lost. What does the full “image and likeness” of God look like? It
looks like Jesus Christ! The Bible says Jesus is “the exact likeness of
God,” “the visible image of the invisible God,” and “the exact
representation of his being.”
3
People often use the phrase “like father, like son” to refer to
family resemblance. When people see my likeness in my kids, it
pleases me.


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. created to be like God, truly
righteous and holy.”
4
Let me be absolutely clear: You will never become God, or
even a god. That prideful lie is Satan’s oldest temptation. Satan
promised Adam and Eve that if they followed his advice,
“ye shall be as gods.”5 Many religions and New Age
philosophies still promote this old lie that we are
divine or can become gods. This desire to be a god shows up every time we
try to control our circumstances, our future, and
people around us. But as creatures, we will never
be the Creator.


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God doesn’t want you to become a
god; he wants you to become godly— taking on his values,
attitudes, and character. The Bible says, “Take on an entirely new
way of life—a God-fashioned life, a life renewed from the inside and
working itself into your conduct as God accurately reproduces his
character in you.”
6
The Purpose-Driven Life 172
       Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       


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God’s ultimate goal for your life on earth is not comfort, but
character development. He wants you to grow up spiritually and
become like Christ. Becoming like Christ does not mean losing
your personality or becoming a mindless clone. God created your
uniqueness, so he certainly doesn’t want to destroy it. Christlikeness is all about transforming your character, not your
personality. God wants you to develop the kind of character described in
the beatitudes of Jesus,
7 the fruit of the Spirit,8 Paul’s great
chapter on love,9 and Peter’s list of
the characteristics of an effective
and productive life. 10 Every time
you forget that character is one of
God’s purposes for your life, you
will become frustrated by your
circumstances. You’ll wonder,
“Why is this happening to me?


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Why
am I having such a difficult time?” One answer is that life is
supposed to be difficult! It’s what enables us to grow.


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Remember,
earth is not heaven! Many Christians misinterpret Jesus’ promise of the “abundant
life”
11 to mean perfect health, a comfortable lifestyle, constant
happiness, full realization of your dreams, and instant relief from
problems through faith and prayer. In a word, they expect the
Christian life to be easy.


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They expect heaven on earth. This self-absorbed perspective treats God as a genie who simply
exists to serve you in your selfish pursuit of personal fulfillment. But God is not your servant, and if you fall for the idea that life is
supposed to be easy, either you will become severely disillusioned
or you will live in denial of reality. Never forget that life is not about you! You exist for God’s
purposes, not vice versa. Why would God provide heaven on earth
when he’s planned the real thing for you in eternity? God gives us
our time on earth to build and strengthen our character for heaven. PURPOSE #3: Y ou W ere Created to Become Like Christ 173
God’ s ultimate goal for your 
life on earth is not comfort, 
but character development. Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       


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God’s Spirit Working in You
It is the Holy Spirit’s job to produce Christlike character in
you. The Bible says, “As the Spirit of the Lord works within us, we
become more and more like him and reflect his glory even more.”12
This process of changing us to be more like Jesus is called
sanctification, and it is the third purpose of your life on earth. You cannot reproduce the character of Jesus on your own
strength.


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New Year’s resolutions, willpower, and best intentions
are not enough. Only the Holy Spirit has the power to make the
changes God wants to make in our lives. The Bible says, “God is
working in you, giving you the desire to obey him and the power to do
what pleases him.”
13
Mention “the power of the Holy Spirit,” and many people
think of miraculous demonstrations and intense emotions. But
most of the time the Holy Spirit’s power is
released in your life in quiet, unassuming ways
that you aren’t even aware of or can’t feel. He
often nudges us with “a gentle whisper.”
14
Christlikeness is not produced by imitation,
but by inhabitation. We allow Christ to live
through us.


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“For this is the secret: Christ lives in you.”15 How does
this happen in real life? Through the choices we make. We choose
to do the right thing in situations and then trust God’s Spirit to
give us his power, love, faith, and wisdom to do it. Since God’s
Spirit lives inside of us, these things are always available for the
asking. We must cooperate with the Holy Spirit’s work. Through-
out the Bible we see an important truth illustrated over and over:
The Holy Spirit releases his power the moment you take a step of
faith. When Joshua was faced with an impassible barrier, the
floodwaters of the Jordan River receded only after the leaders
stepped into the rushing current in obedience and faith. 16
Obedience unlocks God’s power.


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The Purpose-Driven Life 174
DAY TWENTY-TWO:
CREATED TO
BECOME 
LIKE CHRIST
       Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       


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God waits for you to act first. Don’t wait to feel powerful or
confident. Move ahead in your weakness, doing the right thing in
spite of your fears and feelings. This is how you cooperate with
the Holy Spirit, and it is how your character develops. The Bible compares spiritual growth to a seed, a building, and a
child growing up. Each metaphor requires active participation:
Seeds must be planted and cultivated, buildings must be built—
they don’t just appear—and children must eat and exercise to grow. While effort has nothing to do with your salvation, it has much
to do with your spiritual growth. At least eight times in the New
Testament we are told to “make every effort”
17 in our growth
toward becoming like Jesus. You don’t just sit around and wait
for it to happen. Paul explains in Ephesians 4:22–24 our three responsibilities in
becoming like Christ. First, we must choose to let go of old ways
of acting.


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. connected with that old way of life has to
go. It’s rotten through and through. Get rid of it!”
18
Second, we must change the way we think. “Let the Spirit
change your way of thinking.”19 The Bible says we are
“transformed” by the renewing of
our minds. 20 The Greek word for
transformed, metamorphosis (used
in Romans 12:2 and 2 Corinthians
3:18), is used today to describe the
amazing change a caterpillar goes
through in becoming a butterfly. It
is a beautiful picture of what happens to us spiritually when we
allow God to direct our thoughts: We are changed from the
inside out, we become more beautiful, and we are set free to soar
to new heights.


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Third, we must “put on” the character of Christ by developing
new, godly habits. Your character is essentially the sum of your
habits; it is how you habitually act. The Bible says, “Put on the
new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.”
21
PURPOSE #3: Y ou W ere Created to Become Like Christ 175
Your character is essentially 
the sum of your habits. Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       


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God uses his Word, people, and circumstances to mold us. All three are indispensable for character development. God’s
Word provides the truth we need to grow, God’s people provide
the support we need to grow, and circumstances provide the
environment we need to practice Christlikeness. If you study and
apply God’s Word, connect regularly with other believers, and
learn to trust God in difficult circumstances, I guarantee you will
become more like Jesus. We will look at each of these growth
ingredients in the chapters ahead. Many people assume all that is needed for spiritual growth is
Bible study and prayer. But some issues in life will never be
changed by Bible study or prayer alone. God uses people. He
usually prefers to work through people rather than perform
miracles, so that we will depend on each other for fellowship.


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He
wants us to grow together. In many religions, the people considered to be the most
spiritually mature and holy are those who isolate themselves from
others in mountaintop monasteries, uninfected by contact with
other people. But this is a gross misunderstanding.


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Spiritual
maturity is not a solitary, individual pursuit! You cannot grow to
Christlikeness in isolation. You must be around other people and
interact with them. You need to be a part of a church and
community. Why? Because true spiritual maturity is all about
learning to love like Jesus, and you can’t practice being like Jesus
without being in relationship with other people. Remember, it’s
all about love—loving God and loving others. Becoming like Christ is a long, slow process of growth. Spiritual maturity is neither instant nor automatic; it is a
gradual, progressive development that will take the rest of your
life. Referring to this process, Paul said, “This will continue
until we are .


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. mature, just as Christ is, and we will be
completely like him.”
22
You are a work in progress. Your spiritual transformation in
developing the character of Jesus will take the rest of your life,
The Purpose-Driven Life 176
       Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       


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and even then it won’t be completed here on earth. It will only be
finished when you get to heaven or when Jesus returns. At that
point, whatever unfinished work on your character is left will be
wrapped up. The Bible says that when we are finally able to see
Jesus perfectly, we will become perfectly like him: “We can’t even
imagine what we will be like when Christ returns. But we do know
that when he comes we will be like him, for we will see him as he
really is.”
23
Much confusion in the Christian life comes from ignoring the
simple truth that God is far more interested in building your
character than he is anything else. We worry when God seems
silent on specific issues such as “What career should I choose?”
The truth is, there are many
different careers that could be in
God’s will for your life. What God
cares about most is that whatever
you do, you do in a Christlike
manner. 24
God is far more interested in
what you are than in what you do. We are human beings, not human doings. God is much more
concerned about your character than your career, because you will
take your character into eternity, but not your career. The Bible warns, “Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture
that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention
on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out.


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. Unlike the culture
around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity,
God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in
you.”
25 You must make a counter-culture decision to focus on
becoming more like Jesus. Otherwise, other forces like peers,
parents, coworkers, and culture will try to mold you into their
image. Sadly, a quick review of many popular Christian books reveals
that many believers have abandoned living for God’s great
PURPOSE #3: Y ou W ere Created to Become Like Christ 177
God is far more interested 
in what you are 
than in what you do. Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       


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The Purpose-Driven Life 178
purposes and settled for personal fulfillment and emotional
stability. That is narcissism, not discipleship. Jesus did not die on
the cross just so we could live comfortable, well-adjusted lives. His purpose is far deeper: He wants to make us like himself before
he takes us to heaven.


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    "What does the author imply about the significance of Jesus' death on the cross?"
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This is our greatest privilege, our
immediate responsibility, and our ultimate destiny. Day Twenty-two
Thinking about My Purpose
Point to Ponder: I was created to become like Christ. Verse to Remember: “As the Spirit of the Lord works
within us, we become more and more like him and reflect
his glory even more.”  2 Corinthians 3:18b (NLT)
Question to Consider: In what area of my life do I
need to ask for the Spirit’s power to be like Christ
today? Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       


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Ephesians. 4:15a (Msg) 
We are not meant to remain as children. Ephesians 4:14a (Ph)
God wants you to grow up. Your heavenly Father’s goal is for you to mature and develop
the characteristics of Jesus Christ. Sadly, millions of Christians
grow older but never grow up.


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They are stuck in perpetual spiritual
infancy, remaining in diapers and booties. The reason is that they
never intended to grow. Spiritual growth is not automatic. It takes an intentional
commitment. You must want to grow, decide to grow, make an
effort to grow, and persist in growing. Discipleship—the process
of becoming like Christ—always begins with a decision. Jesus
calls us, and we respond: “‘Come, be my disciple,’ Jesus said to him. So Matthew got up and followed him.”
1
When the first disciples chose to follow Jesus, they didn’t
understand all the implications of their decision. They simply
PURPOSE #3: Y ou W ere Created to Become Like Christ 179
       Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       


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responded to Jesus’ invitation. That’s all you need to get started:
Decide to become a disciple. Nothing shapes your life more than the commitments you
choose to make.


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Your commitments can develop you or they can
destroy you, but either way, they will define you. Tell me what
you are committed to, and I’ll tell you what you will be in twenty
years. We become whatever we are committed to. It is at this point of commitment that most people miss God’s
purpose for their lives. Many are afraid to commit to anything and
just drift through life. Others make half-hearted commitments to
competing values, which leads to frustration and mediocrity. Others make a full commitment to worldly goals, such as
becoming wealthy or famous, and end up disappointed and bitter. Every choice has eternal consequences, so you had better choose
wisely. Peter warns, “Since everything around us is going to melt
away, what holy, godly lives you should be living!”
2
God’s part and your part. Christlikeness is the result of
making Christlike choices and depending on his Spirit to help you
fulfill those choices. Once you
decide to get serious about
becoming like Christ, you must
begin to act in new ways. You will
need to let go of some old routines,
develop some new habits, and
intentionally change the way you
think.


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You can be certain that the Holy Spirit will help you with
these changes. The Bible says, “Continue to work out your
salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to
will and to act according to his good purpose.”
3
This verse shows the two parts of spiritual growth: “work out”
and “work in.” The “work out” is your responsibility, and the
“work in” is God’s role. Spiritual growth is a collaborative effort
between you and the Holy Spirit.


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God’s Spirit works with us, not
just in us. The Purpose-Driven Life 180
We become whatever 
we are committed to. Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       


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This verse, written to believers, is not about how to be saved,
but how to grow. It does not say “work for” your salvation,
because you can’t add anything to what Jesus already did. During
a physical “workout,” you exercise to develop your body, not to
get a body. When you “work out” a puzzle, you already have all the
pieces—your task is to put them together. Farmers “work” the
land, not to get land, but to develop what they
already have. God has given you a new life; now
you are responsible to develop it “with fear and
trembling.” That means to take your spiritual
growth seriously! When people are casual about
their spiritual growth, it shows they don’t understand the eternal
implications (as we saw in chapters 4 and 5). Changing your autopilot. To change your life, you must
change the way you think. Behind everything you do is a
thought. Every behavior is motivated by a belief, and every action
is prompted by an attitude. God revealed this thousands of years
before psychologists understood it: “Be careful how you think; your
life is shaped by your thoughts.”
4
Imagine riding in a speedboat on a lake with an automatic pilot
set to go east. If you decide to reverse and head west, you have
two possible ways to change the boat’s direction.


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One way is to
grab the steering wheel and physically force it to head in the
opposite direction from where the autopilot is programmed to
go. By sheer willpower you could overcome the autopilot, but
you would feel constant resistance. Your arms would eventually
tire of the stress, you’d let go of the steering wheel, and the boat
would instantly head back east, the way it was internally
programmed. This is what happens when you try to change your life with
willpower: You say, “I’llforce myself to eat less . .


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exercise more
... quit being disorganized and late.” Yes, willpower can produce
short-term change, but it creates constant internal stress because
PURPOSE #3: Y ou W ere Created to Become Like Christ 181
DAY TWENTY-THREE:
HOW WE
GROW
       Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       


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you haven’t dealt with the root cause. The change doesn’t feel
natural, so eventually you give up, go off your diet, and quit
exercising. You quickly revert to your old patterns.


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There is a better and easier way: Change your autopilot—the
way you think. The Bible says, “Let God transform you into a new
person by changing the way you think.”
5 Your first step in spiritual
growth is to start changing the way you think. Change always
starts first in your mind. The way you think determines the way
you feel, and the way you feel influences the way you act. Paul said,
“There must be a spiritual renewal of your thoughts and attitudes.”
6
To be like Christ you must develop the mind of Christ. The
New Testament calls this mental shift repentance, which in Greek
literally means “to change your mind.” You repent whenever you
change the way you think by adopting how God thinks—about
yourself, sin, God, other people, life, your future, and everything
else. You take on Christ’s outlook and perspective. We are commanded to “think the same way that Christ Jesus
thought.”
7 There are two parts to doing this. The first half of this
mental shift is to stop thinking immature thoughts, which are
self-centered and self-seeking. The Bible says, “Stop thinking like
children. In regard to evil be infants, but in your thinking be
adults.” 8 Babies by nature are
completely selfish. They think only
of themselves and their own needs.


