Finding Meaning

I long for my life to have impact. I want to touch people’s souls, helping fuel a passion, a longing for God, and to bring hope in the midst of this cold world. But so often I hide behind a desk, a computer, a T.V. screen. I seek for purpose in career pursuits, in a relationship, in outward appearances. In fairness, I also seek meaning in drawing close to God (the reason for my, along with all of creation, existence). But I lose focus in the solitary moments of Bible study and prayer. God didn’t create me to live with just Him. God had dreams of a huge family. In fact, He ordered Adam and Eve to fill the earth with people. People who work together, eat together, serve together, hang out with God together.

We exist in relationships. From the very beginning God, who exists eternally in relationship (Father, Son, Spirit), created us in a similar state. He said, “Let us make man in Our image,” so “God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created them; male and female He created them” (Gen 1:26, 27). He didn’t make just Adam or just Eve. He made them both and told them to make more people. They were created to live and to love together and to do so with God. And in this—eating, working, laughing—they imaged their Maker. That is, they lived out their purpose.

To live, it seems, is to relate. But true relating isn’t merely about doing things with others (though this is a big part of life), but about being with others. It’s about letting our lives—the good, the bad, the joys, the sorrows, the fears, the hopes, the confusion, the peace—come in contact with the messy yet redeemed lives of others. God did not make us to exist on our own. We need both Him and His people. If we aren’t engaging with others we aren’t living.

As such my quest for meaning leads me to examine my relationships. To have impact, I must relate. I must bare my soul and risk being known. In so doing, I have the hope of others seeing the grace of God as He restores my fallen heart. I also have the hope of another soul bared open to me. And these exchanges come with power. They spur on fellow image-bearers to love and to worship. Meaningful lives form as we give ourselves to others in love, sacrifice and hope.

Paul writes, “If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing” (I Cor 13:2, 3). If we give our money and time without giving our hearts, it’s in vain. Gifts, talents and resources may provide temporary purpose, but ultimately our lives are only as meaningful as the relationships we have and the impact we make on other people's lives.