It's Not About You
 
By Rick Warren
 
It's not about you.
 
The purpose of your life is far greater than your own personal fulfillment, your peace of mind, or even your happiness.
 
It's far greater than your family, your career, or even your wildest dreams and ambitions. 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.
 
The search for the purpose of life has puzzled people for thousands of years. That's because we typically begin at the wrong starting point-ourselves. We ask self-centered questions like, "What do I want to be? What should I do with my life? What are my goals, my ambitions, my dreams for my future?" But focusing on ourselves will never reveal our life's purpose.
 
Contrary to what many popular books, movies, and seminars tell you, you don't discover your life's meaning by looking within yourself. You've probably tried that already. You didn't create yourself, so there is no way you can tell yourself what you were created for! If I handed you an invention you had never seen before, you wouldn't know its purpose, and the invention itself wouldn't be able to tell you either. Only the creator of the owner's manual could reveal its purpose.
 
You cannot arrive at your life's purpose by starting with a focus on yourself. You must begin with God, your Creator. You were made by God and for God-and until you understand that, life will never make sense. It is only in God that we discover our origin, our identity, our meaning, our purpose, our significance, and our destiny. Every other path leads to a dead end.
 
I have read many books that suggest ways to discover the purpose of my life. They usually offer the same predictable steps to finding your life's purpose: Consider your dreams. Clarify your values. Set some goals. Figure out what you are good at. Aim high. Go for it! Be disciplined. Believe you can achieve your goals. Involve others. Never give up.
 
Of course, these recommendations often lead to great success. You can usually succeed in reaching a goal if you put your mind to it. But being successful and fulfilling your life's purpose are not at all  the same issue! You can reach all your personal goals, becoming a raving success by the world's standard, and still miss the purposes for which God created you. You need more than self-help advice. The Bible says, "Self-help is no help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way, my way, to finding yourself, your true self."  (Matt. 16.25)
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