The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren teaches that the purposes we come up with or the world has for us will be unfulfilling. Only God can show us a purpose-driven life.

God has a unique purpose for your life, and you find it by seeking Him and serving others.

Each of us has a special purpose that God has created us for. God has created us to fulfill specific and general purposes. We are given a lot of different messages in the world about the way that we should function in the world. But God, not the world, gives us purpose. If we make our own purposes, we will find that they are shallow and unfulfilling.

If we want to find a purpose-driven life, then we need to find the life that God has built for us. God has designed every human being with a unique and special purpose. While God has created all human beings to worship Him and serve each other, each person has a unique way of serving. We all face different weaknesses, trials, and temptations. God can use these to hone our skills so that we can find our purpose.

In this summary, you will learn:

  • how to find the purpose for which God has created each of us;
  • the ways that we are supposed to grow in spiritual maturity; and
  • how to change perspective on life.

We were made to live for God forever.

Beginning with self-centered questions about the purpose of life is not a good way to find the purpose of our lives. When we begin asking what my life, future, dreams, and desires are, we will not find the purpose of our lives, only our distorted images of what those purposes might mean.

God has a purpose for the lives of His creatures, and the creatures are not always aware of that purpose and the way that the purpose functions in their lives. Since we didn’t create ourselves, there is no way that we could reveal our own true intentions to ourselves. Since we didn’t create ourselves, we are not going to be able to use God for our own purposes. God will use us for His.

God has a plan for our lives. We were not accidents, and regardless of whether or not our parents planned for us to be born, God planned for us to be born and wants to use us for His purposes. Because God made us for a reason, God is picking out who we are, when we are born, how long we will live, and where we will live. God is lining up all the right attributes and experiences to use us for His purposes.

What drives our lives? A lot of different things drive many people. We might be motivated by guilt and shame, running from pasts or actions that we desperately hope don’t define us. We might be motivated by materialism, chasing bigger jobs, and more elaborate financial plans to be able to afford all the stuff that we want. Still, more of us are driven by a desire to get the approval of others. We control our image, attempting to assemble a life that is desirable and ends with the gentle head nods of our friends and family. We want to wow people.

Our lives do not end on earth when we die. Eternity is planted into the human heart, and eternity is the location where we will technically spend the majority of our lives. One day our time on earth will come to an end, but our life proper will only begin.

Our perspective matters.

The way that we see our lives determines the way that our lives unfold and take shape. Depending on the perspective that we have on our lives, it will render intelligible our actions and goals in the world. Everyone has a metaphor or set of images that they use to understand life. If we think that life is a party, it will be our goal to have fun; if we think the goal is the survival of the fittest, then we will try to outwork and outmaneuver people.

God tells us in the Bible not to conform to the patterns of the world but instead to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. Life on earth is a test for the loyalty of God, and we are always being tested in big and little ways. If we pass these tests of our character, then we will move into more complete perspectives on life and God. That will change the way that we act in the world.

Sound a bit rough and discouraging? Here’s a good time to remember that life is a temporary assignment, one that we are only expected to carry out in the time that has been given to us. Life is a brief moment, and so like David, we should pray and ask God to guide our steps in that brief assignment that we’ve been given. We know that we are aliens in a land that doesn’t belong to pilgrims and are on a journey that will extend far beyond the temporal life that we’ve been given.

The goal of all creation is not to get more stuff or even to spend our days surrounded by good friends. The goal of all creation is the glory of God, and God made everything that He has made for His glory. Everything on earth reflects the glory of God. God is revealing His glory to His people in a lot of different ways across history, but the complete revelation of the glory of God comes in Christ. In Jesus, the radiance of all the glory of God is revealed in His face. God’s glory comes in human form in Christ, showing us a life of obedience and purpose in God…

Join Holy Reads to read the rest of The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren book summary.

Download the App here and access 1,000+ bestselling Christian book summaries in written, audio, and video formats