A lot of people like to talk about how different Millennials are from Gen Xers, Gen Yers, or Boomers. Despite the differences, all people have a desire to love and be loved, know that they are appreciated, and want to know that their life has meaning. In this episode of By Your Life, we’ll talk about where to find the answer to the question “What is my life’s purpose?”

Mass Readings Audio
http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/2020/20_01_19.mp3

Second Sunday in Ordinary Time – January 19, 2020

Welcome to the ninety-fifth episode of By Your Life. I’m Lisa Huetteman and I know that you have a hundred different things you could be doing right now, so I thank you for choosing By Your Life.

My goal is to inspire, empower, support, challenge, and encourage you to connect Sunday, with Monday-Friday, in a secular, business world. It’s my desire to help you live our Catholic faith in the marketplace. I hope to offer you practical ways to go forth and glorify the Lord by your life.

In this edition, we’ll reflect on the readings for the Second Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A). A lot of people like to talk about how different Millennials are from Gen Xers, Gen Yers, or Boomers, and there are generalizations that can be made about different generations. But I think people are more alike than they are different. For example, all people have a desire to love and be loved. All people have a desire to know that they are appreciated. All people want to know is that their life has meaning. And people have a yearning to know their life’s purpose.

That may be why there are over 20,000 results when you search on Amazon for “life purpose.” The problem is that most of these self-help books often suggest that you try to discover the meaning and purpose of your life by looking within yourself, and that is the wrong place to start.

Early in my career as a business coach, I worked with a coach myself and I still do. But at that time, my coach guided me through a process that helped me understand what a personal purpose statement is, why it is important, and how to write my purpose statement.

In business, we often interchange the terms, purpose, mission, vision, and goals. Some organizations will define their mission as to why they exist when others will say that is their purpose. Others think that vision, mission, purpose are all the same thing and use the terms interchangeably. In the confusion, they fail to gain clarity for themselves and those they lead. So, what is a purpose statement and why is it important for an individual and an organization to have one?

In his book, The On-Purpose Person, author Kevin McCarthy does a great job bringing clarity to the confusion. He writes:

“Our purpose is a permanent, common thread woven throughout and in all parts of our lives. It exists in our past, present, future and into eternity.” To distinguish purpose, from vision, mission, and values, he continues, “Purpose is our being, vision is our seeing, mission is our doing, and values are our choosing.”

Our purpose defines why we exist, our vision defines where we are going. Our mission identifies specifically how we will achieve our vision and is an expression of our purpose. We will have many will have missions in our lives, but our purpose does not change. Values are the non-negotiable principles that help us choose how we will lead our lives.

Over the course of several months, using the principles of McCarthy’s book, my coach led me through a process to uncover my purpose. And that is key. Your purpose is not something you define, it is God-given, and it is there for you to discover. My coach helped me gain clarity of my purpose and then had me write a purpose statement by completing the sentence “I exist to serve by _________ _________” All I had to do was fill in the blanks, but that was something easier said than done.

One thing was a given. My purpose, or why I exist, is to serve. We all exist to serve. Our first reading from the Prophet Isaiah emphasized this. “You are my servant.” (Is 49:3) “The Lord has spoken who formed me as his servant from the womb.” (Is 49:5) “It is too little, the Lord says, for you to be my servant.” (Is 49:6) So, we all exist to serve. But who and how? Those were the questions I had to answer when I filled in the blanks to the statement “I exist to serve by “______” “_______”.

Sometimes, oftentimes, we compartmentalize our lives and put service in a bucket that gets satisfied under special circumstances. Our kids are required to log service hours to earn credit for graduation. As parents, we’re obliged to earn service hours at our kids’ schools. At work, companies that embrace social responsibility will encourage employees to volunteer in the community and even offer paid time off to serve. As Christians, we serve the poor, the sick, and others in need in ministries for an hour or two a week. Don’t get me wrong, all of these things are necessary and good, but our purpose is much greater than this. Again, as Isaiah wrote, “It is too little, the LORD says, for you to be my servant, to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and restore the survivors of Israel; I will make you a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.” (Is 49:6) God’s purpose in salvation is not limited to Israel and God’s purpose for us is not limited a few hours a week to perform special service projects. Our life itself is for service. You and I exist to serve!

So, what does this mean for those of us whose vocations are in secular business and not in ministry or the non-profit world? How do we live our purpose to serve at work? The easy answer is to adopt a servant attitude. Everything I do is to serve. I serve my customers. I serve my boss. I serve my co-workers. And, as a leader, I serve those who work for me. I become a servant leader.

The phrase “servant leadership” was coined by Robert K. Greenleaf in The Servant as Leader, an essay that he first published in 1970. The Servant Leadership philosophy is based on a simple but profound idea: Leaders whom we trust and want to follow achieve moral authority by being servants to followers, not by wielding titles or using coercive power. A search Amazon.com today, fifty years after Greenleaf published his first essay, will yield over a thousand results for books about servant leadership. Despite the popularity, and even though research shows that outcomes like profits and retention are improved in servant-led organizations, servant leadership is still going through the process of being accepted as a leadership theory. This is because of Greenleaf’s belief that Servant Leadership is not a systematized technique with a specific outline to follow. Rather, it is a way of life.

So, asking the question, “How do I live my purpose at work?” is an important question, but it is a secondary question to what is my purpose? Once we discover God’s purpose for our lives, it is easy to see how that purpose is fulfilled in all of our life roles, that of son or daughter, brother or sister, spouse, parent, friend, neighbor, student, teacher, volunteer and employer, employee, leader, and follower. If you need help, skip the self-help books that focus inward. Instead, Kevin McCarthy’s book, The On-Purpose Person is one helpful resource. Another is Rick Warren’s New York Times Bestselling book, A Purpose Driven Life. Both of these books point you to the source of your answer: God.

Rick Warren says: “You are not an accident. Even before the universe was created, God had you in mind, and he planned you for his purposes. You must begin with God, your Creator, and his reasons for creating you. You were made by God and for God, and until you understand that, life will never make sense.”

One of the greatest examples of knowing and living your purpose is found in John the Baptist. In our Gospel on Sunday, John the Baptist said, “The reason why I came baptizing was that he might be made known to Israel.” (Jn 1:31) His life’s purpose was to testify that Jesus is the Son of God. John didn’t decide what his purpose should be. Instead, he looked to God, “the one who sent [him].” (Jn 1:33), and from his mother’s womb, until his final testimony, he lived his life on-purpose, giving witness to Jesus as the Son of God. So, when Jesus began his public ministry, John said, “This joy of mine has been made complete. He must increase; I must decrease.” (Jn 3:29-30)

Living on purpose does bring joy to your life. Knowing your purpose gives meaning to your life, simplifies your life, and prepares you for eternity. How often do we frustrate ourselves trying to be something we aren’t? That isn’t what God intended, so it certainly isn’t pleasing to God. When we are on purpose, he shines through us. As he said through the Prophet Isaiah in our first reading, “You are my servant, in you Israel, I show my glory.” (Is 49:3) This week, let the Lord say about us, “You are my servant, in you Lisa, I show my glory.”

May all our lives show the glory of God, and may God bless you abundantly this week as you glorify the Lord by your life.

If you liked this episode, spread the word. You know what to do, forward, share, or click to post. Also, check out the Resources page where you can find a link to the books and other resources mentioned in this and other episodes of By Your Life. I’m always interested in what you think, so give me some feedback by leaving a comment.