{"id":48443,"date":"2021-08-31T17:25:00","date_gmt":"2021-08-31T21:25:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=48443"},"modified":"2021-09-14T10:17:09","modified_gmt":"2021-09-14T14:17:09","slug":"living-a-purpose-driven-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/living-a-purpose-driven-life\/","title":{"rendered":"The 5 Benefits of Living a Purpose Driven Life"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Are you living a purpose-driven life? What difference would it make if you did?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When you live a purpose-driven life, you benefit in five ways. It gives you meaning, simplifies your life, focuses your energy, motivates you, and prepares you for eternity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Keep reading to learn more about the advantages of living a purpose-driven life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Living a Purpose Driven Life<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>These negative and frustrating motivators fade away when you replace them with the <em>one<\/em> motivator of fulfilling God\u2019s purposes. There are five benefits to living a purpose-driven life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">1. God\u2019s Purpose Creates Hope<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Hope<\/em> is faith and confidence in the direction your life is going. It lends you the power you need to overcome any difficulties that life throws at you. On the other hand, if your life <em>doesn\u2019t <\/em>have hope, it\u2019s easy to become overwhelmed and feel that tough moments are insurmountable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Dr. Bernie Siegel studied the effect of hope in his cancer patients. He would ask them if they wanted to live to be 100 years old\u2014those with a strong sense of meaning in their lives usually gave a definitive yes. He discovered that these patients were more likely to go into remission than the less hopeful patients were.&nbsp;<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Living a purpose-driven life\u2014making the fulfillment of God\u2019s purpose your central motivation\u2014instills a sense of direction and hope. It requires you to make changes, separate from the status quo, and take on challenges. As you <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-face-your-fears\/\">face your fears<\/a> and push through these challenges, you\u2019ll strengthen your ability to overcome tough moments and increase your confidence in your life\u2019s direction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">2. God\u2019s Purpose Simplifies<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>If you aren&#8217;t living a purpose-driven life, your <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/methods-of-decision-making-crucial-conversations\/\">decision-making<\/a> is usually dictated by your circumstances or mood. This makes you tired and stressed\u2014you\u2019re constantly changing direction, trying to keep up with others, or attempting to balance what you want to do and what others want you to do.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>For example, if you\u2019re driven by approval, you might make decisions that are most agreeable to whomever you happen to be with to reduce the anxiety of conflict. You\u2019ll inevitably have to keep changing your decisions every time you interact with someone who disagrees with you.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>On the other hand, living a purpose-driven life\u2014dedicating yourself to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/fulfill-gods-purpose-for-your-life\/\">fulfilling God\u2019s purpose<\/a>\u2014grants you peace because it\u2019s the only thing you <em>have<\/em> to do. <strong>This creates a clear benchmark by which to measure what is and isn\u2019t worth your energy.<\/strong> Each time you find that you\u2019re unable to find the time or energy to work on God\u2019s purposes, you know you\u2019re becoming over-involved in wasteful, meaningless activities.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>When this happens, take stock of everything that takes up space in your life. For each activity, ask yourself: \u201cDoes this help me with fulfilling God\u2019s purposes or pull me away?\u201d&nbsp;<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">3. God\u2019s Purpose Focuses&nbsp;<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Many people live lives of constant movement, not only trying to <em>do <\/em>everything but also <em>be good at <\/em>everything. Trying to master everything in a jam-packed life will cause you to feel frazzled and confused.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>&nbsp;Like many others, you might try changing external factors such as your job, relationship, or city in a futile effort to feel \u201cright.\u201d&nbsp;<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The problem doesn\u2019t lie in these external factors\u2014it lies in your focus.<\/strong> When your focus is divided across too many pursuits, you won\u2019t feel that you have a true impact in any one of them. As a result, your life\u2019s activity just feels like busy work that\u2019s not particularly interesting, productive, or important. <strong>When you clarify the <em>truly important <\/em>pursuits in your life, your energy becomes focused and precise. <\/strong>Instead of spreading thin, ineffective energy across many activities, you put <em>all<\/em> your energy toward the activity you were created to do. When you live a purpose-driven life, your actions become deliberate and effective, making your work productive and impactful.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">4. God\u2019s Purpose Motivates<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>When you lack purpose, it\u2019s hard to feel passionate about any aspect of your life or your work\u2014it all seems meaningless. Without a reason for all your effort, you quickly become tired, depressed, and hopeless.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>On the other hand, having a clear purpose\u2014knowing precisely what you\u2019re working for and what your goal is\u2014is <\/strong><strong><em>energizing<\/em><\/strong><strong>.<\/strong> It adds reason and meaning to your work, making it feel like a joyful and productive activity.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">5. God\u2019s Purpose Prepares<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Many people are driven by the impression they want to leave on the world, both before and after they die. However, it doesn\u2019t matter what people in this life think of you\u2014your accomplishments and others\u2019 memories of you will fade over time.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Only your eternal life and the impression you make on God matter.<\/strong> This life is a preparation for eternity, where God will judge your character by asking two questions:&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>\u201cDid you allow Jesus into your life?\u201d That is, did you accept and live by the teachings of Jesus? Did you love him and put your faith in him?&nbsp;<\/li><li>\u201cHow did you use the gifts I gave you?\u201d That is, did you use your gifts\u2014your talents, opportunities, relationships, and so on\u2014for <em>selfish purposes<\/em>, or did you use them <em>for God\u2019s purpose<\/em>?<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>If you live a purpose-driven life\u2014focusing your life on the fulfillment of God\u2019s purpose\u2014you\u2019ll pass his judgment and spend eternity with him.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Are you living a purpose-driven life? What difference would it make if you did? When you live a purpose-driven life, you benefit in five ways. It gives you meaning, simplifies your life, focuses your energy, motivates you, and prepares you for eternity. Keep reading to learn more about the advantages of living a purpose-driven life.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":48469,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[40,43,6],"tags":[488],"class_list":["post-48443","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-books","category-self-improvement","category-spiritual","tag-the-purpose-driven-life","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v24.3 (Yoast SEO v24.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>The 5 Benefits of Living a Purpose Driven Life - Shortform Books<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Living a purpose-driven life gives you meaning, simplicity, focus, and motivation. It also prepares you for eternity. 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