My book begins
This book is dedicated to you.
Before you were born, God planned this moment in
your life. It is no accident that you are reading this
book. God longs for you to discover the life he created
you to live—here on earth, and forever in eternity.
It’s in Christ that we find out who we are and
what we are living for. Long before we first heard
of Christ, . . . he had his eye on us, had designs on us
for glorious living, part of the overall purpose he is
working out in everything and everyone.
Ephesians 1:11 (Msg)
I am grateful to the hundreds of writers and teachers,
both classical and contemporary, who have shaped my
life and helped me learn these truths. I thank God and
you for the privilege of sharing them with you.
A Journey with Purpose
My Covenant
WHAT ON EARTH AM I HERE FOR?
Day 1
It All Starts with God
Day 2
You Are Not an Accident
Day 3
What Drives Your Life?
Day 4
Made to Last Forever
Day 5
Seeing Life from God’s View
Day 6
Life Is a Temporary Assignment
Day 7
The Reason for Everything
PURPOSE #1: You Were Planned for God’s Pleasure
Day 8
Planned for God’s Pleasure
Day 9
What Makes God Smile?
Day 10 The Heart of Worship
Day 11
Becoming Best Friends with God
Day 12 Developing Your Friendship with God
Day 13
Worship That Pleases God
Day 14 When God Seems Distant
PURPOSE #2: You Were Formed for God’s Family
Day 15
Formed for God’s Family
Day 16 What Matters Most
Day 17
A Place to Belong
C O N T E N T S
Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com
Day 18 Experiencing Life Together
Day 19 Cultivating Community
Day 20 Restoring Broken Fellowship
Day 21 Protecting Your Church
PURPOSE #3: You Were Created to Become Like Christ
Day 22 Created to Become Like Christ
Day 23 How We Grow
Day 24 Transformed by Truth
Day 25 Transformed by Trouble
Day 26 Growing through Temptation
Day 27 Defeating Temptation
Day 28 It Takes Time
PURPOSE #4: You Were Shaped for Serving God
Day 29 Accepting Your Assignment
Day 30 Shaped for Serving God
Day 31
Understanding Your Shape
Day 32 Using What God Gave You
Day 33
How Real Servants Act
Day 34 Thinking Like a Servant
Day 35
God’s Power in Your Weakness
PURPOSE #5: You Were Made for a Mission
Day 36 Made for a Mission
Day 37 Sharing Your Life Message
Day 38 Becoming a World-Class Christian
Day 39 Balancing Your Life
Day 40 Living with Purpose
Notes
About the Author 338
About the Publisher 339
Appendix 1: Discussion Questions
Appendix 2: Resources
Appendix 3: Why Use So Many Translations?
A J O U R N E Y W I T H P U R P O S E
Getting the Most from This Book
This is more than a book; it is a guide to a 40-day spiritual
journey that will enable you to discover the answer to life’s most
important question: What on earth am I here for? By the end of
this journey you will know God’s purpose for your life and will
understand the big picture—how all the pieces of your life fit
together. Having this perspective will reduce your stress, simplify
your decisions, increase your satisfaction, and, most important,
prepare you for eternity.
Your Next 40 Days
Today the average life span is 25,550 days. That’s how long
you will live if you are typical. Don’t you think it would be a wise
use of time to set aside 40 of those days to figure out what God
wants you to do with the rest of them?
The Bible is clear that God considers 40 days a spiritually
significant time period. Whenever God wanted to prepare
someone for his purposes, he took 40 days:
A Journey with Purpose
• Noah’s life was transformed by 40 days of rain.
• Moses was transformed by 40 days on Mount Sinai.
• The spies were transformed by 40 days in the Promised Land.
• David was transformed by Goliath’s 40-day challenge.
• Elijah was transformed when God gave him 40 days of
strength from a single meal.
• The entire city of Nineveh was transformed when God gave
the people 40 days to change.
• Jesus was empowered by 40 days in the wilderness.
• The disciples were transformed by 40 days with Jesus after
his resurrection.
The next 40 days will transform your life.
This book is divided into 40 brief chapters. I strongly urge you
to read only one chapter a day, so you will have time to think about
the implications for your life. The Bible says, “Let God transform
you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will
know what God wants you to do.”
One reason most books don’t transform us is that we are so
eager to read the next chapter, we don’t pause and take the time
to seriously consider what we have just read. We rush to the next
truth without reflecting on what we have learned.
Don’t just read this book. Interact with it. Underline it.
Write your own thoughts in the margins. Make it your book.
Personalize it! The books that have helped me most are the ones
that I reacted to, not just read.
Four Features to Help You
At the end of each chapter is a section called “Thinking about
My Purpose.” There you will find:
• A Point to Ponder. This is a nugget of truth that summarizes
a principle of purpose-driven living that you can reflect on
throughout your day. Paul told Timothy, “Reflect on what I
am saying, for the Lord will give you insight into all this.”
2
The Purpose-Driven Life
• A Verse to Remember. This is a Bible verse that teaches a
truth from that chapter. If you really want to improve your
life, memorizing Scripture may be the most important habit
you can begin. You can either copy these verses onto small
cards to carry with you, or purchase a Purpose-Driven® Life
Scripture Keeper Plus.
• A Question to Consider. These questions will help you
think about the implications of what you have read and how
it applies to you personally. Let me encourage you to write
your answers in the margin of this book or in a notebook, or
obtain a copy of The Purpose-Driven Life Journal, a
companion book designed for this purpose. Writing down
your thoughts is the best way to clarify them.
In appendix 1 you will find:
• Discussion Questions. I strongly urge you to get one or
more friends to join you in reading this book during the
next 40 days. A journey is always better when it is shared.
With a partner or a small reading group you can discuss what
you read and bounce ideas off each other. This will help you
grow stronger and deeper spiritually. Real spiritual growth is
never an isolated, individualistic pursuit. Maturity is
produced through relationships and community.
The best way to explain God’s purpose for your life is to allow
the Scripture to speak for itself, so in this book the Bible is
quoted extensively, using over a thousand different verses from
fifteen English translations and paraphrases. I have varied the
versions used for several important reasons, which I explain in
appendix 3.
I Have Been Praying for You
As I wrote this book, I often prayed that you would experience
the incredible sense of hope, energy, and joy that comes from
A Journey with Purpose
discovering what God put you on this planet to do. There’s
nothing quite like it. I am excited because I know all the great
things that are going to happen to you. They happened to me,
and I have never been the same since I discovered the purpose of
my life.
Because I know the benefits, I want to challenge you to stick
with this spiritual journey for the next 40 days, not missing a
single daily reading. Your life is worth taking the time to think
about it. Make it a daily appointment on your schedule. If you
will commit to this, let’s sign a covenant together. There is
something significant about signing your name to a commitment.
If you get a partner to read through this with you, have him or
her sign it, too. Let’s get started together!
The Purpose-Driven Life
My Covenant
With God’s help, I commit the next 40 days of my
life to discovering God’s purpose for my life.
Your name
Partner’s name
“Two are better off than one, because together they
can work more effectively. If one of them falls down,
the other can help him up ... Two people can resist
an attack that would defeat one person alone.
A rope made of three cords is hard to break.”
Ecclesiastes 4:9 (TEV)
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