[Religion] Passion, Purpose and Meaning

This is one of my favorite topics!

While passion, purpose, and meaning are not exclusively religious concepts, for me it is impossible to separate the two since my religion is the commanding force in my life.
So, what is passion, purpose and meaning? These concepts are very closely linked and can almost be used interchangeably.

Passion
Passion is that joy and drive to pursue what God puts on your heart. For example, my wife loves kids and she has facilitated the growth of the hearts and minds of young children for well over 10 years now by working in the nursery as several churches and by being a fulltime nanny. She does an incredible job with these children by not only enhancing their education but by introducing them to Christ as well. That is her passion and she has followed it faithfully even when times were not so great.

Passion is why you get up in the morning and what you love to do. Passion is what you do regardless of everything else. If it rains, you are doing it, if the sun is out, you are doing it. It is the constant thing in your life that you do without fail because you want to, not because you have to. To give an example: I don’t like mowing my lawn but I do it because I have to (and because I am to cheap to pay the neighborhood kid) but I love growing others and watching them succeed. That is my passion (the growing people thing, not the lawn)!

Purpose
Your purpose is what you are made for. Christians, like myself, believe that all mankind was created to do God’s work. I believe this whole heartedly and I also believe we are to do this via our passions. For example: if your passion is missions work then your purpose is spreading God’s word and love via acts of kindness and with the heart of a teacher.

Our purpose is doing God’s work via our passions. Consider foster parents for a moment. I truly believe that foster parents are God sent. Obviously there are some out there with the wrong heart but I believe most do it because they feel it is their purpose to make lasting impressions on children that otherwise would no have a chance.
Passion is the easy part; purpose can sometimes be trying and very difficult.

Meaning
I believe we all have the same meaning in life. I believe our meaning is to serve God and to introduce others to Christ so that they may have a lifelong and life altering experience with our gracious God. It may simply be praying with someone or bringing them food when they are sick to show God’s love for them. Meaning provides value to our existence. It grows us as humans.

I encourage you, and pray that you would follow your passion, live your purpose and fulfill your meaning.