Dear editor:
The No. 1 New York Times best-selling book was called "The Purpose Driven Life" by Rick Warren in the year 2002. It was released later under the name "What on Earth Am I Here For?" It was an absolutely brilliant masterpiece that is certainly still worth reading for anyone who truly wants to discover their real purpose in life.
Rick Warren (who is a pastor) stated in the very first sentence of Chapter 1 "It's not about you." (Think about that for a moment.)
He then went on to say, "The purpose of your life is far greater than your own personal fulfillment, your peace of mind, or even your happiness. ... The search for the purpose of life has puzzled people for thousands of years. That's because we typically begin at the wrong starting point -- ourselves.
"We ask self-centered questions like 'What do I want to be? What should I do with my life? What are my goals, my ambitions, my dreams for my future? But focusing on ourselves will never reveal our life's purpose."
"If you want to know why you were placed on this planet, you must begin with God. You were born by His purpose and for His purpose." The Bible says, "For everything, absolutely everything, above and below, visible and invisible ... everything got started in Him and finds its purpose in Him." (Colossians 1:16).
" ... You won't discover your life's meaning by looking within yourself. ... You didn't create yourself, so there is no way you can tell yourself what you were created for. ... Only the Creator ... could reveal your purpose. ... You were made by God and for God -- and until you understand that, life will never make sense. ... Every other path leads to a dead end."
"Fortunately, there is an alternative to speculation about the meaning and purpose of life. It's revelation. ... To discover your purpose in life, you must turn to God's Word, not the world's wisdom. The Bible says, 'It's in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for. ... '"
Next I would like to share some quotes from "Christianity for Skeptics" by Steve Kumar.
"Christianity is unique. There is no faith like the Christian faith. Christianity differs from all other religions in its basic teaching regarding who God is, what man is, how God redeems man and what sin is. All other religions teach salvation by good works, but Christianity offers salvation by grace alone through faith. In other religions man is constantly seeking God, but in Christianity, God is in search of man."
"Billy Graham is right, 'There are many religions ... but only Christianity has a God who gave Himself for mankind."
It's about love. The love of God. "God showed how much He loved us by sending His only Son into this wicked world to bring to us eternal life through His death. In this act we see what real love is; it is not our love for God, but His love for us when He sent His Son to satisfy God's anger against our sins (1 John 4:9, 10)."
Come to Jesus.
Lloyd Hoffman
Hot Springs
Editorial on 10/07/2015