What should I do with my life? What are my goals, my ambitions, my dreams for my future? We become preoccupied with making a living, doing our work, paying bills, and accomplishing goals as if these tasks are the point of life. They are not. The point of life is learning to love — God and people. Life minus love equals zero.
It is during suffering that we learn to pray our most authentic, heartfelt, honest-to-God prayers. That image is your life metaphor. He wants you to grow up spiritually and become like Christ. Becoming like Christ does not mean losing your personality or becoming a mindless clone. Christlikeness is all about transforming your character, not your personality. If you want to know why you were placed on this planet, you must begin with God.
You were born by his purpose and for his purpose. Your life is not a result of random chance, fate, or luck. There is a master plan. Many people spend their lives trying to create a lasting legacy on earth.
Yet, what ultimately matters most will not be what others say about your life but what God says. These ideas are the foundation of purpose-driven living. This is true humility: not thinking less of ourselves but thinking of ourselves less. They are self-forgetful. Wisdom is learning that truth sooner rather than later. The more time you give to something, the more you reveal its importance and value to you.
We must act on what we know and practice what we claim to believe. Impression without expression causes depression. Study without service leads to spiritual stagnation.
This probably means you will have to stop doing some other things. To prevent this, you should develop a purpose statement for your life and then review it regularly.
God is calling you to be his messenger. Comments Thank you for the great summary. Thank you so much for creating and publishing this excellent summary of The Purpose-Driven Life. Thanks, Odi! Of course you can share the link with anyone you would like. The more the merrier! Leave a Reply Cancel reply Your email address will not be published. If you are wondering about your purpose, if you are searching for reason, if you want to know why you are on earth, I highly recommend reading this book.
Review on April 24th, This is my fourth time reading this book. I generally read this book during Easter because of the 40 chapters and 40 days during Lent. It is a great reminder on how to find purpose in life. How to make your life not about you and create some form of impact. Review on March 30th This is my third time reading this book.
I usually read this book at the start of the year or at the start of lent. I think reading a book one chapter a day for forty days requires not only dedication but it forces you to be in the Word of God. Everyone wants to know their purpose- why am I here on earth? What is my purpose? These are questions that plague me sometimes when I feel so purposeless. I love how easy this book is to read, how we are given various call to actions and questions to ponder on. You get from this book what you take.
Rick Warren doesn't promise you purpose after this book, you need to really work and seek it. A great read- one of my favorites.
View 2 comments. Dec 24, Ja rated it really liked it. Dear Mr. W, Thank you for writing such a wonderful book. I stopped. I felt this hunger within me, a hunger for peace and contentment and I start reading your book again, slowly.
It is painful for me to read that book. Every chapter is like a slap. Every paragraph had given me heartaches. Your book taught me a lot. I learned that if we center our lives on Him, everything would fall into their right places. We are experiencing pain because we are not home yet. Pain is vital because God uses it so we can mature and grow like Christ.
God allows us to feel a significant amount of discontent and dissatisfaction in life- longings that will never be fulfilled on this side of eternity. Earth is not our final home and we were created for something much better. Thank you for reminding me that God has emotions too. He can feel our pain and sufferings. He feels angry too.
And He smiles and laughs whenever we did something that is pleasing for Him. And now, I realized that we cannot measure the greatness of God because He is infinite and we are only finite human beings. I hope a lot of people would read your book. Imagine the world if only all the people living in it know their purpose. It would make a great difference. Thank you for reaching out to people like me. It means a lot. Sincerely, J. View all 4 comments. Jul 25, K.
Absolutely rated it liked it Recommended to K. Shelves: religion , self-development , drama. This book teaches its reader God's five purposes for his or her life on earth: He makes you a member of His family, a model of His character, a magnifier of His glory, a minister of His grace, and a messenger of His Good News to others.
Among those five purposes, at this stage in my life, the only engaging read for me was the first one. There was nothing new about it really as I basically studied at several Catholic universities during my younger years.
However, there were some bible passages an This book teaches its reader God's five purposes for his or her life on earth: He makes you a member of His family, a model of His character, a magnifier of His glory, a minister of His grace, and a messenger of His Good News to others.
However, there were some bible passages and pointers that Warren reminded me of and the book had the usual positive impact to me so I still liked it. It's just that pages after pages of it sounded like some of the religion teachers that I had in the past.
Maybe when I am in the twilight years, I will read this book again and its the impact will be greater than it has on me now. There are also many quotable quotes that were able to inspire me there past few weeks.
The book is designed to be read one chapter a day for the reader to "digest" and ponder the point that the chapter wants to convey. I recently had a couple of misunderstandings with someone close to me and this book became my companion in threshing out what could be done to fix things.
Warren actually helped me in seeing things at that someone's points of view so saying sorry, forgetting and granting forgiveness were not really that difficult.
We have three copies of this book at home. The first was a Christmas gift from an office mate. The second was a retirement gift to my wife by another office mate. The third was the book my daughter bought for herself.
I am not sure which one I read but since this book was first published in , it has sold 25 million copies worldwide. I was in a bookstore last week and the latest copy proudly bears 30 million mark. Why did I not read this right away say when we received the first copy of the book at home? I dunno. Just browsing the book gave me then an impression that it was saccharine sweet and was unrealistically all positive that means falsely deceptive.
That impression is not true. The book is realistic and Warren presents the challenges that every Christian should work for. From the first declaration of "this is not about you" to "living with purpose is the only way to really live," the book is peppered with heartfelt applications of bible passages as Warren presents the five purposes that I mentioned above.
My eyes did not get blurred not my heart pounded with sadness or inspiration but I felt that my spirit flew and soured while reading some of its pages. A dear friend mentioned that the youngest child of Warren committed suicide this year, April 5, after struggling with mental illness that caused severe depression. In my life, I've seen several similar cases like this: a successful parent losing a child possibly because the celebrity parent got too focused with fame and in the process neglected his o her own family.
But I do not know Warren's complete story so I'd rather keep my comments to myself. At some point in your life you should read this book. View all 5 comments. Jun 09, Dean Ryan Martin rated it did not like it Shelves: dnf. The way you feel influences the way you act. Dec 27, Lauren rated it did not like it Shelves: given-up. I suppose this book can be genuinely helpful to some people Scott Peterson, Brian Nichols, Fidel Castro, for example have all apparently benefited from this book , but it was uninteresting to me from the get-go.
I went into it with an open mind, and hoped to gain some spiritual insight from it. Maybe someday I will calm down and be able to finish it. May 12, Khim rated it it was amazing. I believe, this book was written to change the life of the reader, it gives answers to every questions you're asking to GOD, telling you your purpose and that is to live for GOD.
It clarifies everything. This is really an amazing book. Shelves: christian-devotionals , non-fiction , 5-stars. I am reading the hard cover copy but I couldn't find it on GoodReads. I am starting this book today. I am also going to do what it suggests - only read one chapter a day for 40 days. So that means, I will finish this book in a little over a month. I am a Christian but I haven't exactly been living like one for years.
I really hope to make some permanent spiritual changes from reading this book! Nov 04, Lili Marcus rated it liked it Shelves: religious. First I must say that I am a Christian.
I think me being a Christian will affect how I rate this book. Not that I am gonna be bias and give it a five star. As you guys can see, there's only three and according to my profile where I included how I rate my reads, three stars really isn't that good. The book is supposed to be read for forty days, one chapter each day. And I tried doing that so many times before. I tried reading it as my devotion but so many times, i never get to finish.
So this time First I must say that I am a Christian. So this time I read it in just two days, actually just five hours. The book isn't that long anyway, especially that its font is kinda bigger than usual.
Not the novel-type fonts. I would've read it in two hours. So anyway, maybe I know now why I couldn't finish it before. It's a little boring. Maybe Christians will raise their eyebrow to me for what I'm gonna say. It's all Scriptures. Okay, nothing is wrong with all scriptures. I am a Christian and Scriptures are food to me and believe me ladies and gentlemen, my fellow readers, I am filled and satisfied every time I read a scripture.
Lots of it. But The delivery of those scriptures aren't actually that overwhelming. I think it would've been better if the scriptures were delivered in more appreciative, pleasurable way. Like if a non-christian will read it, he will be glad that he picked this book because he will be overwhelmed by love. But the book and the instructions there just seemed so commanding. Christianity isn't like that. God isn't manipulative. He is a loving God.
In this book, I felt like God was so killjoy and he just want us to do the things that He wants and that will please Him. That if we follow our will, there will be doom and gloom. But in fairness to Rick Warren, he is very convincing but I am a Christian too. I know my God. It would've been better if he accentuate God's loving nature and how fun it is to follow HIM.
Again I want to apologise to Christians. I don't unlike this, i'm not just hundred percent into it. Sorry Pstr. Rick Warren. I know But aside from being a Christian, I am also a Writer and A reader. Not to mention a Book Reviewer. I should be honest to how i feel about every book. SO there Our life now here on earth is the warm-up act - the dress rehearsal.
God wants us to practice what we will do forever in eternity. We were made by God and for God, and until you figure that out, life isn't going to make sense. Life is a series of problems: Either we are in one now, we're just coming out of one, or we're getting ready to go into another one.
The reason for this is that God is more interested in our character than our comfort. God is more interested in making our life holy than He is Our life now here on earth is the warm-up act - the dress rehearsal. God is more interested in making our life holy than He is in making our life happy. We can be reasonably happy here on earth, but that's not the goal of life.
The goal is to grow in character, in Christ likeness. Life being hills and valleys you go through a dark time, then you go to the mountaintop, back and forth , no matter how good things are in our life, there is always something bad that needs to be worked on. And no matter how bad things are in our life, there is always something good we can thank God for. We can focus on our purposes, or we can focus on our problems.
If we focus on our problems, we're going into self-centeredness,'which is my problem, my issues, my pain. We have to learn to deal with both the good and the bad of life. Actually, sometimes learning to deal with the good is harder. We need to ask ourselves: Am I going to live for possessions? Am I going to be driven by pressures?
Or am I going to be driven by God's purposes for my life? God didn't put us on earth just to fulfill a to-do list. He's more interested in what we are than what we do.
That's why we're called human beings, not human doings. Shelves: owned , meaningful , 4-stars , reviewed. Truthfully, I was enjoying this novel and it's meaningful messages. However, silly me set it down God knows where I mean this literally because I have no idea where it is and it's been over a week of looking and I still can't find it. So I thought I'd write a review of how it was going up until I went and freakin' lost the book. Yay me. Anyways, my mom recommended this book to me when I was feeling kind of down.
She said it help 3. She said it helped her during a tough time she'd gone through years back and I figured I'd give it a go. Now, I enjoyed it immensely in the beginning, because as a devoted Catholic I don't mind religious messages and such, and this novel pretty much revolves around religion. So if that isn't your thing - this probably isn't a book for you. Unfortunately, around chapter 7 I think? Whether it was the actual book or just me getting bored, I'm not sure. And I guess I'll never know until I find the book and finish it properly.
Overall, it was a nice "pick me up" type of book. Very centered around you and how to better yourself. I also enjoyed Warren's writing. For this sort of novel, it fit quite well and flowed in a calm manner.
Now, I just have to keep looking until I find it! Jul 31, Amanda rated it did not like it. I read this book thinking it would offer something deep and real about the purpose of God and the purposes of peoples in the world. But it offered little more than a worn-out run-a-round of the phrase "God has a purpose for you. It's that lame "name it and claim it" mentality. I wouldn't recommend this book to an I read this book thinking it would offer something deep and real about the purpose of God and the purposes of peoples in the world.
I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone. Mar 02, Drew J rated it did not like it Recommends it for: immature Christians. I think I'm the only one in the world who hated this book. It annoyed the crap out of me. It lays out a canned formula to live.
Turn-off for me. Shelves: non-fiction , religious , spiritual , inspirational , life-altering-books. Personally, this was much more than a book that I've mark off as read, even though finishing another always feels like a grand achievement.
Rather, it defines to term "spiritual journey," and I feel incredibly thankful for this buddy read; for my lovely wife, Tanya, for lending me her copy; and to Rick Warren for writing it. Most of all, I'll forever be grateful to God, for setting ALL of it into motion, so that millions around the world may reap the benefits. I'm proud of myself for completing t Personally, this was much more than a book that I've mark off as read, even though finishing another always feels like a grand achievement.
I'm proud of myself for completing this journey. Some of the lessons certainly weren't easy to face nor should they be, because they were questions I'd been running away from for a very long time; years, actually.
However, the road ahead, knowing what I know about the Christian lifestyle, is quite daunting and though I believe in my heart and mind that God never gives us more than we can handle as long as we lean on Him and let Him intervene, I'm not so sure I'm up the tasks ahead.
I'm scared of continually screwing up, and ashamed for running from God all these years. He must be really disappointed in me. That's how I feel. I am sad, my heart is heavy with regret and shame. I feel like crying, but the tears rarely come any more. It's like I'm tapped out. View all 12 comments.
Like the Shack, not bad just not great. I think all the Purpose Driven Life merchandising bothered me some to I am a Christian and I find that "popular" Christian books tend to have a "hard row to hoe" with me.
I'd say, know what you believe and then read this. Works flow from a person's relationship with God, they do not bring it about. I'm not saying that this book claims they do, I'm just saying fit the contemporary read any contemporary work into grounded Chri Like the Shack, not bad just not great. I'm not saying that this book claims they do, I'm just saying fit the contemporary read any contemporary work into grounded Christian belief, not the other way around.
Nov 13, Steven Walle rated it really liked it. This book is a good road map to success in your spiritual life. The author teaches us of God's love and His purpoese for our lives and how to walk in faith twards that purpose.
I recommend this book to all who are struggling with their beliefs or attitudes twards their Lord and tward their purpose. Enjoy and Be Blessed. Diamond This book is a good road map to success in your spiritual life. Jan 22, Petula rated it it was amazing. This book allows you to discover, who you are and what your purpose is.
It is a books that speaks of why, how and what. A book that has transforming pieces of ' golden nuggets. Light bulb moments, which opens your eyes to what is possible. It does not preach to you, but talks to you with reason.
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