What is The Purpose of Life – According to The Bible

One of the many things that I love about believing in God is that your life has a purpose. If you believe that humans were created by an accident, or a string of random chances, your life can feel meaningless. If people are here for no reason, and nothing happens when we die, life seems pretty pointless. 

I believe that God created us on purpose and gives our lives purpose. 

That leads us to a big question: What is that purpose? Why did God create us? And what are we supposed to do?

I think there are three big purposes in everyone’s life, and I’ll explain what the Bible says about each one in this post. 

Our purpose is to love God

God didn’t create humans because He was bored. God created us for love. The Bible says that God is Love, and everything God does flows from who He is. 

Our first purpose while we’re here on earth is to have a relationship with God. Many people have a skewed perception of God and believe that He is an impersonal being, or old man in the sky that doesn’t care much about what’s happening on the earth. God will never force us into a relationship with Himself because it wouldn’t be a loving relationship, it would be more like forced slavery. 

“But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” 
Matthew 6:33 NKJV

“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
Jesus replied: “‘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.”
Matthew 22:36-38 NIV

“I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.”
John 15:5 NKJV

Jesus makes it clear that loving God needs to be our first step. There are other things that are important in life, but this has to be our priority. If we can get our relationship with God right, everything else in our life comes into the proper alignment. 

Our purpose is to love other people

When God created the first human, He realized that He wasn’t enough. God and Adam had a perfect relationship that was untainted and unaffected by sin. But God said that that wasn’t good. He recognized that humans needed to have relationships with other humans. 

You and I need to have other people in our life. If we only have a relationship with God, or think that Jesus is the only person we need, we’ll wind up missing out on life. God intends for us to love other people. We will never be able to find and fulfill our purpose if it’s just us and God. 

If our purpose was just to love God, then we would go to Heaven as soon as we were saved. But that’s not what God intends for us. We have a purpose that’s bigger than us and it requires other people. 

When Paul was writing the letter to the Philippians, he explained that dying and going to Heaven would be much better than what he was experiencing on the earth. Paul would much rather be fully present with Jesus. 

I’m sure you’ve had those feelings as well. People are imperfect, and they can cause a lot of issues for us. I call that the sandpaper ministry. It’s uncomfortable, but it helps smooth out some rough edges. Paul tells the Philippians that even though he’d rather be with Jesus, he needs to stay on the earth and continue walking in his purpose for their sake. 

God has called all of us to love and serve other people. That will look different for each of us, but we’re all called to it. There are other people that need us, and part of our purpose here on earth is to serve them.

“For to me, living means living for Christ, and dying is even better. But if I live, I can do more fruitful work for Christ. So I really don’t know which is better. I’m torn between two desires: I long to go and be with Christ, which would be far better for me. But for your sakes, it is better that I continue to live. Knowing this, I am convinced that I will remain alive so I can continue to help all of you grow and experience the joy of your faith.” 
Philippians 1:21-25 NLT

“And the second (greatest commandment) is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”
Matthew 22:39 NIV

We all have a specific and unique purpose

God has called every person to the first two parts: to love God and to love people. 

The third part of your purpose is specific to you. God created you to be 100% unique, and this part of your purpose is as unique as you are. God designed you with specific talents, gifts, and abilities to do something that only you can do. 

The Bible tells us that together we’re one body, but each of us is a unique part of that body. Some people are created to be the eyes, others are the fingers, and some are the feet. We know that each part of our body is important and they all look and act differently.

God doesn’t want everyone to be the same thing. A body that only had hands couldn’t accomplish anything. There would be no sight, no thinking, no heartbeat, nothing. 

“But our bodies have many parts, and God has put each part just where he wants it. How strange a body would be if it had only one part! Yes, there are many parts, but only one body. The eye can never say to the hand, ‘I don’t need you.’ The head can’t say to the feet, ‘I don’t need you.’ In fact, some parts of the body that seem weakest and least important are actually the most necessary.”
1 Corinthians 12:18-22 NLT

It can definitely feel overwhelming trying to figure out what part of the body we’re supposed to be. I think that it’s an easy thing to overthink. I believe that God will put you in the right places and won’t leave you unaware of your purpose. 

If we do the first two things: love God and love people, God will guide us into our specific purpose. 

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