Our Purpose - Excerpt from The Point
Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God – this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will.
Romans 12:1-2
Following is an excerpt from my latest book The Point: Journey to Life. The text is copied from Chapter 15, God’s Glory Revealed.
On that beautiful Sunday afternoon, as we walked on the lawn of the Augusta National Golf Club toward the parking lot, Casey posed a question that I failed to answer. The foundation has been prepared. I can now answer the question and we can now discuss the point of it all – love. God’s glory is revealed through people who serve Him. It begins with God and ends with God served. As we allow God to transform our spiritual selves, His love invades us and our worldview changes. We gain new eyes to see people as beings bearing God’s image, and we gain a new desire to serve. When we allow God’s love to flow through us, God’s glory is revealed to others, and those who experience God’s glory are in turn changed. It is all about love.
I have shared Scripture and stories about spiritual life, God’s desire for us to allow Him to transform our spirits, the avenues through which we may connect with God, and revelations of God’s glory. As wonderful as it might be to experience God’s glory, to bask in His light, to commune with Him, and to experience the change, He does not offer His gift of grace purely for our pleasure. He offers His gift of grace to transform us and through that transformation, to position us for His service. He reveals His glory to the world in many ways including through His creation, through His word and through His people. If we desire satisfaction, if we desire a full, enriched, meaningful life, if we desire life abundant, we must allow God to transform our spirits and souls, we must allow God’s love to fill us and flow through us, and we must act in the world revealing His love and His glory.
It is all about love, but what is love? As I write the question images of photos from the 1960’s come to mind with people holding handwritten “make love, not war” posters. The word “make” leads thoughts towards some rock and roll connotation of promiscuity labeled as love, which is in stark contrast to the purity of love revealed in Scripture. God is love.[i] Love encompasses His character. God is holy, pure, and divine. To have love is to have God and His character. Jesus tells us that we reveal our love for God when we obey His commands.[ii] Scripture describes what love looks like saying, “Love is patient and kind… It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres” (1 Corinthians 13:4,7). Scripture clarifies that love is the result of the Holy Spirit dwelling within us by listing love as one characteristic of fruit of the Spirit.[iii]
Love’s purpose is unity. By loving God, we gain His love and our unity with God grows. As a result, we desire to share His love with the world around us, building unity in the world one relationship at a time. God is love. Through His indwelling, His love transforms us and prepares us to share His love with the world – allowing His glory to be revealed through us to the world.
It sounds so simple. Why do we make it so difficult? Sometimes we just need to show sincere compassion to other people.
May God continue revealing His love through you. Amen.
CHAPTER 15. God’s Glory Revealed
[i] 1 John 4:8
[ii] John 14:21
[iii] Galatians 5:22