Today shapes tomorrow: Why living with purpose matters

A student is made to study for their grades and excel into careers; a teacher is made to mould the rugged edges given and produce responsible, knowledgeable citizens; a pastor and imam are meant to offer social and spiritual guidance; a doctor is meant to treat; a driver is meant to drive; a chef is made to prepare the best delicacies—known and invented; a scientist is meant to discover and explore the possibilities; and you were made to…............ (fill it in).

What we were created to do is very important for us. It not only pushes us to be better individuals but also keeps dreams alive.

In institutions, they call it the missions and the visions. In English, they call it direction. I choose to call it purpose.

Sometimes life is what happens to us while we are making other plans, and as life happens, sometimes purpose fades or gets clouded—hence the more reason we should remain grounded.

In a nutshell, purpose provides mental clarity, keeps us motivated internally even when there is nothing externally to motivate us, and gives us an edge by reframing obstacles and mountains into conquests!

That's purpose—simply no excuse. If it's hard, we go harder!

I want to emphasise further that it's important we guard our minds and purpose.

### Discovering purpose through talents and gifts

There are good pointers to the right way as we develop our purpose.

First is alignment of talents, gifts, mission and vision. The old cliché saying that something must kill a man has been misinterpreted for days. Simply put, man must find something he is worth dying for—a good cause, for that matter.

What do you just enjoy doing? Hiking, swimming, reading? Those hobbies not only give you a sense of reflection; they add value to your life.

1 Peter 4:10 emphasises using our gifts to serve others, while Exodus 31:3 speaks of God giving different talents and gifts for craftsmanship.

The best example is the parable of the talents in Matthew 25. A master calls his servants to the table, informs them of his impending journey, and off he goes.

On coming back, he requests to know what became of the gifts he gave them. One servant hid his, waiting to give it back on the boss's return. The others made multiple more talents with what was given.

One had a purpose. One had not.

The master rewards those who did business with their talents and takes away from the one who did not use his.

Finding our purpose is more like the second group. Asking ourselves: With the life God has given me, what else can I do to make myself better and the world better?

That's the purpose!

Those who use their talents and gifts end up fulfilled. I said fulfilled, not rich! That's the goal. Knowing you did your best for yourself and also for humanity!

Purpose gives fulfilment.

Our gifts give fulfilment to those around us. They are literally gifts to humanity!

A good example is Jesus Christ. In Luke 4, he outlined his mission, vision and purpose. He outlined his gifts as well: preaching to the poor, setting captives free—a chain breaker, healer of the sick and blind, declarer of good news, the Saviour.

Little did they understand that they would all be impacted by these in ways they would never imagine.

That's what your gift can do to the world.

Your fruits, on the other hand, are the inward man. Once you come to full surrender of your gifts, it should point you to your Maker.

That humility—a fruit that you bear.

You learn to acknowledge how lucky you have been to be a custodian of the higher calling you have received. Also, you learn to appreciate how long it has taken you to develop your gifts.

Just like the master who went on a long journey, leaving the servants behind, so is our Lord entrusting us with our gifts to produce fruits.

And the fruit is long-suffering.

Being patient with yourself. Being patient with others also in this journey of life. Knowing the right timing and what to say at each stage.

All these point to action.

The purpose of a boat is to sail, of a plane is to fly; without which they waste away.

The purpose of life is… (you guessed right) to live it!

Having said all that, it does not mean it is that simple. It takes courage, grit and focus. Setbacks come. It's important we check on these pitfalls.

Distraction from our mission and purpose.

We should fight any distraction because distractions do more than derail us from what we must do in life—they end up being costly through the years they may take us off the radar.

Imagine an engineer wasting away on drugs. How long will it take them to recover, rehabilitate and become sober enough to actualise their dreams and contribute to our country's development?

Imagine a teacher in jail.

Imagine a lawyer drowning in alcoholism.

Imagine a Form Two student burning schools and being expelled.

A student sleeping in class, then later making noise for others. Will they ever be who they were meant to be?

Distractions are the most expensive things we can pay attention to.

Paying attention to our dreams and being sober to ourselves is the cheapest and easiest thing we can do.

Also, we need to keep our purpose clear from time to time.

We should develop a plan for the year where we deliberately set time to review if we are still in line with our goals, review the drawbacks and eliminate them, review the strategies used, re-energise and then plan for tomorrow.

It can be quarterly, monthly or yearly, but take stock!

Today is as important as tomorrow, since now is the only guarantee we have.

Let's use now wisely to make tomorrow better.

Jesus would do this through prayer—sometimes alone, for his individual purpose of salvation, and sometimes together with his disciples, for the good of the group purpose: preaching to all Judea and Samaria.

Yes, we live in a practical world, full of challenges from time to time. That's the beauty of it.

Those challenges will make us more hardened as well as be a reminder of what we must achieve.

If it's hard, we go hard.

Tough times never last; tough people do.

Yes, today has so much to do with tomorrow.

Eyes on the goal.