What Is Our Personal Purpose In Life?

alwayscurious · 05-13-2021, 02:16 AM

So growing up I've always heard about God's eternal purpose, etc, etc.... But never, not once in the LC have I heard about what God wants to do in our life, it's only outside of the LC that I've been hearing about finding our purpose on this Earth. How can we find what God has called us to do on this Earth? What is God's plan for us on an individual level? Is it just to be part of his eternal plan? What about the goals I have in my life, whether professional or personal? Is it not good to fulfill them to the best of my abilities? To strive for the peak? What am I not seeing? Should I not strive to be the best human I can possibly be? At the same time, expressing the virtues of Christ and loving God more and more? does anyone else share my frustration??

Nell · 05-13-2021, 07:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by alwayscurious

So growing up I've always heard about God's eternal purpose, etc, etc.... But never, not once in the LC have I heard about what God wants to do in our life, it's only outside of the LC that I've been hearing about finding our purpose on this Earth. How can we find what God has called us to do on this Earth? What is God's plan for us on an individual level? Is it just to be part of his eternal plan? What about the goals I have in my life, whether professional or personal? Is it not good to fulfill them to the best of my abilities? To strive for the peak? What am I not seeing? Should I not strive to be the best human I can possibly be? At the same time, expressing the virtues of Christ and loving God more and more? does anyone else share my frustration??

alwayscurious,

I think you can find some help to answer your questions in Phillipians 3. The entire chapter.

In Philippians 3:10 Paul says: That I may know him...; The better you know someone, things about them begin to fall into place. It's not about doing the right thing or even finding what the "right thing" is. It's about knowing him and being known by him. Being led in life's most important choices and decisions, by someone you don't know, is frustrating...is it even possible?

If you don't know what he wants...ask him. If you don't get an answer, ask him again. Ask him why he isn't answering you. He may have already told you something he wants from you which is unfulfilled by you. Obey what he has already told you to do. Will he trust you with another "assignment" when you haven't obeyed what he has already told you to do? I know this from personal experience!

The grand and glorious matters of life are not as accessible as obedience in the small things. In the small steps, you grow. As you grow, the steps get bigger and bigger. This is evidenced by Paul's desire, prayer, "That I may know him." The apostle...Paul...the big guy...his desire was to know Christ. I think we should start there. Talk to him like he's a real person.

An interesting result of NOT knowing him:

Matthew 7:22-24
22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
24 Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:

They prophesied in his name, cast out devils (demons), in his name ...many wonderful works; all to no good end. Why? What's wrong with what they did? Nothing really. These were wonderful works. Except, they acted on their own, without his leading, and he called these wonderful works "iniquity". In these wonderful works, they didn't get to know him...or likely, they acted on their own volition. They might have worked differently in their lives, had they known him and obeyed him. The same goes for us. We can't figure out the answers to these questions without first knowing him, and more importantly, being known by him.

We were conditioned by Lee to believe that there is some bigger, better, faster goal of the Christian life and the other guys are fallen and degraded. We got into a lot of trouble following Lee's grand and glorious "ministry". I think this may be among Lee's most damaging, misleading teachings...making the Christian life about Lee and his "ministry." Making us dependant on Lee for interpretation, instead of a walk with God.

The gospel of Jesus Christ is simple: Matt. 1:21 And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus: for he shall save his people from their sins.

Jesus may be feeling a bit ignored...

I hope this helps--
Nell

OBW · 05-13-2021, 09:26 AM

The answer to your questions, or at least most of them, is "yes." You are to do all those things. However, in the LC, we were constantly told not to try to do anything. That the only things that matter would eventually just happen because of some nebulous "growth in life." But somehow that growth "in life" happened while nothing was happening to our actual life. The disconnect should make us wonder whether "growth in life" as described by Nee, Lee, and the LC actually has anything to do with our life.

For all of the efforts at touching, getting into, and/or being in our spirits, there seems to be little any transformation of the lives that show to the world. This would make me wonder whether there really is anything to all this "my spirit" stuff — at least in the way the LC talks about it.

God made man in his image and likeness to have dominion over the earth. But if I was an outsider looking in at the members/participants of the LC, I would see people who are isolating from the world. The image of God that I would get from them would be a puffed-up, delusional heckler shouting nicely-phrased curses at everyone while bragging about his superiority.

Now that is an image I really want to go after - NOT!

But the Bible, primarily in the core (and heart) of the NT — which is the gospels — has a lot to say about what it is I am to do. It says to be poor in spirit. To be meek. To hunger and thirst for righteousness. To be salt and light to the world (not avoid it, or merely tolerate it). To turn the other cheek. To give not only what is asked for but more.

And much more.

And then it says that the most important commandment is in two parts:

Love the Lord your God with your whole heart, soul, mind, and strength
Love your neighbor as yourself.

This two-part commandment is said to sum up the whole of the law and prophets. That means that if you really do this, you will live a life that is salt and light to the world. That is righteous. That is slow to anger and quick to forgive. That would not slander another to hide your own failure but speak the truth.

And "love your neighbor as yourself" does not mean "tough love." I bet you don't love yourself that way.

I know that God has a purpose. And because he is eternal, you can call that purpose eternal. But when a God with a host of worshippers creates an environment for a new creature, man, to inhabit, and then sends him to take care of that environment while only coming to talk with him for part of each day, I begin to wonder how we are supposed to assume that the purpose was to become people who simply spend all day declaring "Holy, holy, holy, . . ." It looks like we got sidetracked.

I may not understand the whole of God's purpose, but it does appear that his purpose for man in this life was to be like him as we do the normal things of life. Not have high thoughts about him as we hide away in meetings.

That is both our "personal" purpose and our corporate purpose.

aron · 05-13-2021, 11:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nell

Obey what he has already told you to do. Will he trust you with another "assignment" when you haven't obeyed what he has already told you to do?

To me this is "Part 1" of the answer. You already have an assignment. You already have a mother, father, siblings, extended family, people nearby, childhood friends etc. Your assignment is to bring them love. Let them know someone out there cares about them, respects them, appreciates them. Just listen. Do some small favour. Just go a tiny bit out of your way to be a blessing to their day. Not with ulterior purpose, to "get them saved" or "to come into the church" or whatever. Just meet them where they are, give them the love and respect they need today. Basic stuff, really, but vastly overlooked and forgotten in today's pell-mell me-first world.

Quote:

Originally Posted by OBW

... it says that the most important commandment is in two parts:

Love the Lord your God with your whole heart, soul, mind, and strength
Love your neighbor as yourself.

This two-part commandment is said to sum up the whole of the law and prophets. That means that if you really do this, you will live a life that is salt and light to the world. That is righteous. That is slow to anger and quick to forgive. That would not slander another to hide your own failure but speak the truth.

And "love your neighbor as yourself" does not mean "tough love." I bet you don't love yourself that way.

I know that God has a purpose. And because he is eternal, you can call that purpose eternal. But when a God with a host of worshippers creates an environment for a new creature, man, to inhabit, and then sends him to take care of that environment while only coming to talk with him for part of each day, I begin to wonder how we are supposed to assume that the purpose was to become people who simply spend all day declaring "Holy, holy, holy, . . ." It looks like we got sidetracked.

And Part 2 is this, to ask God how you can serve others. That is the key. How can you pour something of yourself out into the world, with no thought of return, so that your reward in heaven is great? Do you understand what I mean - like, how can I be defrauded of my life, pour it out on some worthy mission, to really "love my neighbour" as God wants me to?

If you do, you will find the Holy Spirit meeting you there. And He will guide you every step of the way home. It is the most fantastic journey, beyond all human will and wish. It's not "magic", it's better. It's God.

Now, all this isn't to say that I've laid hold of this. Rather, what little and feeble that I have bumped into it, has been so incredibly satisfying. Like OBW says, Where's the promised transformation of "Just keep eating and drinking"? Where's the wonderful life that supposedly follows PSRP of HWMR every day?

But if you orient not to "me" but "me serving others" the whole thing changes, in the twinkling of an eye (cf 1 Cor 15:52 KJV)

Covert · 05-14-2021, 02:45 PM

You should be you. In the LC its almost as if they strip away who you as a person and replace you with the attributes and personality traits of a typical LC person which is in short: vainglorious, delusional, loud mouth/babbling/reviling tongue, and finally a certain peculiar narcissism.

So instead of succumbing to the personality traits I described above, just be you (assuming your true self is not anything close to what I described above). Dont let some elder with his self interest try to control or sway who you marry, don't let some elder require of you permission to pursue a job/career path and things such as where you want to live, don't let some elder or other witness lee goon tell you good works are "dead works" when that is nothing more than a narcissistic and devious doctrine.

You are an individual person with free will that god gave you. You are not some tool with your only purpose being propagating witness lee delusion of his "higher gospel" and that only the outreach/spread of the- vainglorious, spiritually/emotionally abusive, perpetuation of evil, delusional, loud mouth/babbling/reviling tongue, and finally a certain peculiar narcissism lords recovery can bring back the second coming of Jesus............

Just imagine all the people who ripped apart on in the inside and outside for witness lee delusional agenda. Imagine all the brothers, sisters, and children who were told to "cover the brother" in the face of evil because of the LC obsession with a fake image that only fools men in delight but infuriates God in wrath. Imagine all those who couldn't marry who they loved because some elder decided his self interest was more important and ripped apart relationships and arranged marriages to his liking (seen this more times then I wished to). Imagine all those who couldnt pursue a purpose in life that meant like a life long purpose because it was "individualistic" and did not help the "building" of the.... wait for it...... vainglorious, perpetuation of evil, delusional, loud mouth/babbling/reviling tongue, and finally a certain peculiar narcissism lords recovery can bring back the second coming of Jesus........... Imagine all of those who couldn't read certain books or pursue certain fields of study because of the insecurity of the local churches usually only seen in books like "1984" by George Orwell. In the local churches you can only see their telling of the "storms" their telling of "history" as if they have a ministry of truth like in the book "1984". Now imagine the children who grow up in the local churches and experience the madness that I cant describe in full for their entire childhood.........

The local churches are an insecure madhouse that just continues a cycle of wait for it.......... vainglorious, spiritually/emotionally abusive, perpetuation of evil, delusional, loud mouth/babbling/reviling tongue, and finally a certain peculiar narcissism that supposedly only has the ability to bring back the second coming of Jesus............

With prayer, prudence, and free will- you have to decide the path you chose in life and the commitments you make in your christian life. God gave you free will so don't let some narcissistic delusional loony folk try to control your life based on a lie that has controlled and destroyed the lives of many.

Blessings to you
Covert

05-13-2021, 02:16 AM	#1
alwayscurious Member Join Date: Jan 2021 Posts: 27	What Is Our Personal Purpose In Life? So growing up I've always heard about God's eternal purpose, etc, etc.... But never, not once in the LC have I heard about what God wants to do in our life, it's only outside of the LC that I've been hearing about finding our purpose on this Earth. How can we find what God has called us to do on this Earth? What is God's plan for us on an individual level? Is it just to be part of his eternal plan? What about the goals I have in my life, whether professional or personal? Is it not good to fulfill them to the best of my abilities? To strive for the peak? What am I not seeing? Should I not strive to be the best human I can possibly be? At the same time, expressing the virtues of Christ and loving God more and more? does anyone else share my frustration??

05-13-2021, 09:26 AM	#3
OBW Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: DFW area Posts: 4,384	Re: What Is Our Personal Purpose In Life? The answer to your questions, or at least most of them, is "yes." You are to do all those things. However, in the LC, we were constantly told not to try to do anything. That the only things that matter would eventually just happen because of some nebulous "growth in life." But somehow that growth "in life" happened while nothing was happening to our actual life. The disconnect should make us wonder whether "growth in life" as described by Nee, Lee, and the LC actually has anything to do with our life. For all of the efforts at touching, getting into, and/or being in our spirits, there seems to be little any transformation of the lives that show to the world. This would make me wonder whether there really is anything to all this "my spirit" stuff — at least in the way the LC talks about it. God made man in his image and likeness to have dominion over the earth. But if I was an outsider looking in at the members/participants of the LC, I would see people who are isolating from the world. The image of God that I would get from them would be a puffed-up, delusional heckler shouting nicely-phrased curses at everyone while bragging about his superiority. Now that is an image I really want to go after - *NOT!* But the Bible, primarily in the core (and heart) of the NT — which is the gospels — has a lot to say about what it is I am to do. It says to be poor in spirit. To be meek. To hunger and thirst for righteousness. To be salt and light to the world (not avoid it, or merely tolerate it). To turn the other cheek. To give not only what is asked for but more. And much more. And then it says that the most important commandment is in two parts: Love the Lord your God with your whole heart, soul, mind, and strength Love your neighbor as yourself. This two-part commandment is said to sum up the whole of the law and prophets. That means that if you really do this, you will live a life that is salt and light to the world. That is righteous. That is slow to anger and quick to forgive. That would not slander another to hide your own failure but speak the truth. And "love your neighbor as yourself" does not mean "tough love." I bet you don't love yourself that way. I know that God has a purpose. And because he is eternal, you can call that purpose eternal. But when a God with a host of worshippers creates an environment for a new creature, man, to inhabit, and then sends him to take care of that environment while only coming to talk with him for part of each day, I begin to wonder how we are supposed to assume that the purpose was to become people who simply spend all day declaring "Holy, holy, holy, . . ." It looks like we got sidetracked. I may not understand the whole of God's purpose, but it does appear that his purpose for man in this life was to be like him as we do the normal things of life. Not have high thoughts about him as we hide away in meetings. That is both our "personal" purpose and our corporate purpose. __________________ Mike I think . . . . I think I am . . . . therefore I am, I think — Edge OR . . . . You may be right, I may be crazy — Joel

05-14-2021, 02:45 PM	#5
Covert Member Join Date: Apr 2021 Posts: 63	Re: What Is Our Personal Purpose In Life? You should be you. In the LC its almost as if they strip away who you as a person and replace you with the attributes and personality traits of a typical LC person which is in short: vainglorious, delusional, loud mouth/babbling/reviling tongue, and finally a certain peculiar narcissism. So instead of succumbing to the personality traits I described above, just be you (assuming your true self is not anything close to what I described above). Dont let some elder with his self interest try to control or sway who you marry, don't let some elder require of you permission to pursue a job/career path and things such as where you want to live, don't let some elder or other witness lee goon tell you good works are "dead works" when that is nothing more than a narcissistic and devious doctrine. You are an individual person with free will that god gave you. You are not some tool with your only purpose being propagating witness lee delusion of his "higher gospel" and that only the outreach/spread of the- vainglorious, spiritually/emotionally abusive, perpetuation of evil, delusional, loud mouth/babbling/reviling tongue, and finally a certain peculiar narcissism lords recovery can bring back the second coming of Jesus............ Just imagine all the people who ripped apart on in the inside and outside for witness lee delusional agenda. Imagine all the brothers, sisters, and children who were told to "cover the brother" in the face of evil because of the LC obsession with a fake image that only fools men in delight but infuriates God in wrath. Imagine all those who couldn't marry who they loved because some elder decided his self interest was more important and ripped apart relationships and arranged marriages to his liking (seen this more times then I wished to). Imagine all those who couldnt pursue a purpose in life that meant like a life long purpose because it was "individualistic" and did not help the "building" of the.... wait for it...... vainglorious, perpetuation of evil, delusional, loud mouth/babbling/reviling tongue, and finally a certain peculiar narcissism lords recovery can bring back the second coming of Jesus........... Imagine all of those who couldn't read certain books or pursue certain fields of study because of the insecurity of the local churches usually only seen in books like "1984" by George Orwell. In the local churches you can only see their telling of the "storms" their telling of "history" as if they have a ministry of truth like in the book "1984". Now imagine the children who grow up in the local churches and experience the madness that I cant describe in full for their entire childhood......... The local churches are an insecure madhouse that just continues a cycle of wait for it.......... vainglorious, spiritually/emotionally abusive, perpetuation of evil, delusional, loud mouth/babbling/reviling tongue, and finally a certain peculiar narcissism that supposedly only has the ability to bring back the second coming of Jesus............ With prayer, prudence, and free will- you have to decide the path you chose in life and the commitments you make in your christian life. God gave you free will so don't let some narcissistic delusional loony folk try to control your life based on a lie that has controlled and destroyed the lives of many. Blessings to you Covert