What is Gods Purpose For My Life? Part II

Many people have the question “What does God want me to do with my life?” In Part I of this series, we saw that the answer to this question is not a mystery but is clearly revealed in scripture. In Genesis 1:27-28, we saw that right after God made man in His image and blessed them, He told them what they were to do (see the verse below)

²⁷ God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. ²⁸ God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

While we focused on the process of being fruitful in in Part I, in the section, the focus is going to be on the second purpose for our lives – to multiply.

Here is a quick thing to know when it comes to multiplying

(1) Multiplication is reserved for those who are fruitful: God says that we should be “fruitful and multiply”. He does NOT say “multiply and be fruitful”. Why? It is because the word for multiply is the Hebrew word ‘rabah’, which means to make much,  or increase greatly. To explain, consider the seed that grows to become a tree. That tree when it produces fruit has a seed within it. But the tree does not have just one fruit on it but many fruits with the same seed. By this, the seed has effectively multiplied itself through its fruitfulness. Thus, the only way the seed will multiply is to be fruitful.

A heart set on multiplication is a heart that is first set on fruitfulness.

(2) Multiplication is others-focused: If being fruitful is about self-growth and becoming who we are designed to be, to multiply is about reproducing who we have become. If fruitfulness is internally focused, we see that multiplication is externally focused. If fruitfulness is about changing ourselves, the multiplication is about changing others.

Jesus practiced this command of multiplication when he gave up his own life so that he could win the right for others to receive what He had within Him – the Holy Spirit. In other words, He put our lives before His own life so that we could experience the fruit of His life.

A heart set on multiplication is a heart that is others-focused, service oriented, and desires to add value to people’s lives.

Here are four characteristics of a person who (like a seed) desires to multiply (increase greatly)

(A) Giver: Jesus tells us that when we give, it shall given unto us (Luke 6:38). Moreover, Jesus tells us that the heart behind giving should always be love (see John 3:16 which says that for God so loved the word that He gave).

Hence we see that the principle here is this: Love always gives, and giving always causes multiplication.

Hence, to follow Gods purpose of our life to multiply requires that we have to give of our time, resources, and energy to those thing that will add value to others.

Point to Ponder: God has given me specific gifts, talents, and abilities to multiply to others so they may eat of the fruit of my life.

Today is the day to think about what you have been given and how you can use that to make a difference in your world.

(B) Influencer: Leadership is influence. To be an influencer requires that we have a heart to seek people and lead them out of situations. We can see this in the final command that Jesus gives us saying “Go and make disciples of all the nations…”. What he was saying there was for us to go and  influence our world so that we may multiply those who are going to be in the kingdom of God. Why? So that their lives may be positively impacted. It’s a beautiful thing when fruitfulness is multiplied. It makes the barren world of our lives a thriving place.

Check out this verse:

Until the Spirit be poured upon us from on high, and the wilderness be a fruitful field, and the fruitful field be counted for a forest – Isaiah 32:15 NKJV

Indeed, we who have accepted Jesus have had the Spirit poured out on us. As the wilderness of our lives become a fruitful field, the fruitful field will be counted as a forest as we influence the lives of others. 

Point to Ponder: Everyone influences in one way or the other. A multiplier always asks the question – how can I influence my world in a better way?

(C) Filler: As the plant multiplies, it fills the barren land and thus enriches and strengthens the soil it is planted in so that the soil is no longer as vulnerable to erosion and is good to provide fruit. Similarly, we have been planted in the lives of others to help meet a need or fill a need in their lives so that they may become strengthened and become better equipped to produce fruit.

Practically, this means that we have to move beyond surface level friendships and get to know people on a deeper level. Then we are to see how we are equipped to fill a need in their lives so that they may be galvanized to become all that God has called them to become.

Question to Ponder: What gap exists in the life of those around me and how can I fill that need?

(D) Teacher: Jesus is called a teacher in the bible. What did he teach? He taught about the kingdom of God – how to enter, how it operates, and its benefits. Then Jesus gave the command for us to go teach (Matthew 28:20).

In other words, we are not just meant to be givers, influencers, and fillers. We are meant to teach others to be the same. we are not just meant to provide aid to people, we are meant to teach them how to be self-sufficient (by being rooted and grounded in love).

Another way to say this is that our purpose is to make others self-sufficient in Christ so that they may impact their world. Our job is not to make others self-dependent, nor to make others dependent, but to make them God-dependent

Point to Ponder: I am called to be a flowing river and not a static pond. Though I am not perfect, I am called to teach others the good that I know.

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So we see, that God wants us to be a Giver, Influence, Filler, and Teacher. He wants us to be a G.I.F.T in other people’s lives. When we choose to be a gift, we find that we receive more than we every gave.

Food for Thought: Happiness and fulfilment in life comes naturally when we choose to become a G.I.F.T in other people’s lives.

In Part III, we will look at filling the earth and subduing it.