It is challenging for many people to understand their purpose in life. Deeply within me, I think this is the most critical question and discovery of any human. Success in life is not how long you live, but your purpose for living. Success, described by Dr. Tunde Bakare, is measuring your life with your assignment in life. This means you must first discover your assignment in life before you can define your success. But this is where many find themselves at a roadblock.
It is outright deception to think you are accomplished when you have no understanding of your purpose. Comparing where you are coming from with where you are, and being satisfied with your achievements so far, without knowing for sure if it all aligns with your purpose, is deception. Until you can equivocally say what your purpose is, you cannot truly define if you have succeeded or not.
Don’t get me wrong, it is good to acknowledge all you have worked very hard to achieve. However, the point is it’s not about how long you have been driving; it is about being on the route that leads to the right destination. Serving in the military for 12 years was fulfilling for me. However, that journey was not a measure of my success because it was not the place of my primary assignment in life. I learnt so much from the military, but I have never used that as a standard to define my success in life.
Paul was persecuting the people of God and thought he was doing a great service to God. He was brilliant in the laws of Moses and was a great scholar of the Jewish religion with great passion and zeal for God. But he later discovered he had been pursuing the wrong course in life. In his own words, he said everything he was before his discovery of Jesus was nothing.
We must always evaluate ourselves to make sure we are not majoring in the minors of life; and pursuing everything but the main purpose that we must fulfill. Rethink and redefine your success. Do you know what your purpose is? Are you aligned with that purpose? And are you pursuing it whole heartedly?
Bible Reading: Acts 26:9-19, Philippians 3:7-15.