Living on Purpose

We live in a “therapized” culture where so many popular beliefs that originated in Freudian psychobabble have found their way into the way we think. Contrary to popular belief, you won’t find the purpose of your life by analyzing yourself and looking into yourself. You didn’t create yourself, so how can you know what you were created for? The only way to find out what you are meant to do with your life is to go the One who designed you and programmed you for a certain purpose.

If I gave you a car, but you and nobody else knew anything about cars or what they were used for, you would just stare at it and scratch your head and wonder: “What on earth am I supposed to do with this thing!”  And, unless you are willing go to the car manufacturer for instructions, you are going to stay clueless about how to drive the darn thing.

Similarly, until you go to G-d’s operating manual for humanity, which is the Bible, life will never make sense to you. You will only find your true purpose, significance and destiny through knowing G-d’s word. Every other path is literally a dead end.

Self-help books and “high-powered” seminars tell you to aim high! Go for it! Never give up!

But being successful and fulfilling your life’s purpose are not at all the same issue! You can become a raving success according to the world’s standards and still die depressed and unfulfilled because you missed the purposes for which G-d created you.

How, then, do you discover the purpose you were created for? You have only two options. Your first “option” is to speculate. This is what most people choose. They conjecture, they guess, they theorize. “I guess I’ll be a doctor”, or, “My father is a lawyer maybe that’s what I should do too”. The second option is to build your life on eternal truths, not pop psychology, success-motivation, or inspirational stories.

G-d was thinking of you long before you ever thought about Him. His purpose for your life predates your conception.  He planned it before you existed, without your input!

You may choose your career, your spouse, your hobbies, and many other parts of your life, but you don’t get to choose your purpose.

We discover that meaning and purpose only when we make G-d the reference point of our lives.

Rabbi Arush writes in the Universal Garden of Emuna: “The Creator’s commandments are the tools that He gives us to help us get close to Him and fulfill our mission on earth. The first man was commanded to refrain from idolatry, profanity, bloodshed, thievery and adultery. He was also commanded to maintain a system of justice… The Noahide commandments obligate all of humanity. Every person has a solemn obligation to learn these commandments”.

G-d is not just the starting point of your life; He is the source of it. To discover your purpose in life you must turn to G-d’s Wisdom, not the world’s “wisdom”.

Rabbi Arush continues: “The five books of Moses are an instruction manual for mankind. They include practical tools for maintaining a happy and productive life. The Bibles central task is to teach mankind emuna, faith in the one exclusive Creator. Each person has an obligation to know Him and to get close to Him”.

We all have been given different gifts and talents, by the Creator, to use in the fulfillment of our purpose, but the overall purpose for all of us is the same. We need to be motivated to increase our spiritual awareness, closeness to the Creator, and a desire to pass the tests that He gives us. You might say: “There are so many commandments, where should I start?” The Creator’s main teaching is to work on loving other people like you love yourself. Why not start with this?