Purpose is defined as “the reason something exists.” And passion is defined as “any compelling powerful emotion or feeling.”
On September 14, 1986, I wrote down my purpose and passion – “I want to be the best ever.” I wrote this down in the context of being a football player. I knew that the only way for me to escape the vicious cycle of poverty, fathering fatherless children, and incarceration, was through football.
My purpose and passion compelled me to do some things that seem a little crazy. For example, I didn’t go to my senior prom. “Why,” you ask? Why would I go to the prom and stay up all night, when I had to work out in the morning? I didn’t have time for a prom! That wasn’t going to help me fulfill my purpose and passion.
In college at BYU, instead of going out and experiencing the “Sin City” where “What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas,” I decided to work out in a college roommate’s backyard.
Why would I do this? Because my purpose and passion compelled me to do whatever I needed to do to reach my goal of being an NFL player.
Did you know that God has a purpose and passion? But His purpose and passion didn’t start in time or space. His purpose and passion are as eternal as He is.
Ephesians 3:8-12 reveals God’s eternal purpose and passion –
To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things, so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. This was according to the eternal purpose that He has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in Him.
The Church is not man’s idea. The Church – you and I – is God’s eternal purpose and passion.
