WHY! WHAT! And HOW!

WHY! WHAT! And HOW!

I recently found myself listening to discussions about purpose and on hearing a number of meaningful responses, I couldn’t help but investigate further to understand ‘purpose’. I would like to state that this post isn’t an in-depth explanation on purpose, but it essentially focuses on 3 significant components I have come to understand regarding purpose.

Some of the responses I gathered concerning purpose are; to give hope, to inspire others, to reach out to specific people in a given society, preach the gospel, make music, to serve, to be a writer, to be a teacher, to own corporations, to make money etc. I dare say, they are all true about the ‘what’ in the dialogue about purpose.

Likewise, other responses talk about the skills or knowledge acquired that can aid one in the journey to fulfilling purpose. These include having that unique voice, writing skill, the intellectual capability, the ability to work with numbers, the ability to speak eloquently, the witty mind for creativity and business, the flair for sports etc. This again, I dare say is true about purpose as it speaks about the ‘how’.

Following these responses, I decided to check the dictionary meaning of the word ‘purpose’ and have just highlighted two here:

•         Why you do something or why something exists - Cambridge dictionary
•     The reason for which something is done or created or for which something exists. – Oxford dictionary

Pondering on these definitions, I realised, as observed from the responses above that, in identifying one’s purpose in life, there is a significant emphasis on the ‘what’ and the ‘how. Even so, purpose as defined above, significantly focuses on the ‘why’. Drawing on the dictionary definition that focuses on the ‘why’, it is right to say that,

‘It is important to know ‘why’ we do ‘what’ we do as we develop the ‘how’ we do ‘what’ we do’.  

As a Christian (one who believes in God), it is right to say, purpose is God centred or God initiated. This is clearly emphasised in the bible (the official manual for Christians). Likewise, there are lots of narratives in the bible that talk about God working out His purpose in the lives of people. Consequently, as we submit to God, He reveals ways (hinging on the why, what and how) by which we fulfil His purpose in our lives.

#purpose #why #what #how #God #beinspired