Discovering Your Purpose

What does it mean to glorify God? Is that all we're here for? Michael Frost dives into how to incorporate God into your daily activities and interactions.

Questions for Discussion and Personal Reflection

  1. What does glorifying God look like to you?
  2. How can you infuse the values of God into your life?

The old catechism says, uh, that the primary purpose of humankind is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever. And, I mean, it's a very old catechism— the Westminster Confession— but I, I can't improve upon it. I mean, the primary purpose of humankind is to glorify God— that is to acknowledge that he's king that he reigns, that he rules, that he's in charge of the universe— and to glorify Him is to hand over more and more and more of your life under that reign, under that rule, uh, which sounds a bit oppressive, but if you then follow the rest of the catechism it goes: and to enjoy Him forever. And what you discover is that our purpose in life is to hand over all that we have— both our habits, our lifestyles, our, our viewpoints, uh, our understandings, our intellect, but also our work, our hobbies, our pastimes, our relationships— to hand these over under the reign of God, to, as it were, take the values of God— peace and justice and reconciliation and beauty and joy and to infuse every aspect of those. So I would say God is actually interested in your work. If you're a builder or a teacher or a healer, he wants you to glorify Him by embracing his values and expressing them through your work. He wants you to bless the city that you're from. He wants you to create a better city, to bring peace and justice to this world. Uh, he wants you to enjoy the beauty and the wonder and the joyousness that comes from glorifying him, so in case you thought that glorifying God and enjoying him forever was just being in some eternal church service, think again. It's actually better. Art and beauty, painting, it's about laughter and parties and eating. It's about work and healing and serving and giving. It's about every aspect of life, whichever way we're wired or whichever contributions we make, to actually fashion a mosaic— a tapestry of glory— which reflects the marvelous reign of God.