Love Letters with Jason & Ros

You Won’t Truly Know Purpose Without This Insight

• Jason and Ros Hamilton • Season 1 • Episode 11

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Do you really know what Purpose is? The truth may surprise you, especially when it comes to purpose in your love relationships!
 
In Episode 11, we explore the true meaning of “P” for Purpose in a dynamic conversation with our special guest, Pastor Erik Luchetta, a longtime Bible teacher of theological studies and a trusted friend! Together, we challenge some of the most common misconceptions people carry about purpose, and why having the right perspective can potentially impact how we love, live, and relate to one another with positive results.
 
 Top Three Things Purpose is Not:

  1. It’s not your job or position
  2. It’s not a “calling” or “anointing” over your life
  3. And… it’s not your gifts, talents, or abilities

The truth?
Every person has one purpose, but it’s lived out in many unique ways.  And yes… even your love relationships have purpose!

Pastor Erik helps us unpack how understanding God’s design for purpose brings clarity to relationships, the appropriate love alignment, ultimate forgiveness, and divine peace in how we should live out our faith, individually and collectively!

Chapters:

  • 0:00         Welcome to Love Letters with Jason & Ros
  • 3:10         Introducing Pastor Erik Luchetta
  • 3:42         Defining PURPOSE & God’s Plan for Humanity  VS. Individual Calling
  • 8:44         God’s Will On Earth As It Is In Heaven- Matthew 6, Verse 10
  • 11:12       The Cost of Fulfilling Godly Purpose 
  • 13:44       What It Means to Be Human
  • 24:02       Living Out Purpose in the “Little” Things
  • 33:03       The Importance of Forgiveness in Fulfilling Purpose
  • 42:30       Interesting Statistics on Purpose
  • 47:24       How Purpose & Love Contribute to the Greater Good
  • 1:02:57    Biblical Truth- Colossians 3, Verse 23
  • 1:06:20    Love Letter Challenge on Purpose!


 Episode Resources:

  • Lakewood Bible Study “Living In Your Purpose.” Erik Luchetta and Jeremy Marrone, September 2024. https://www.lakewoodchurch.com/watch-online/06E587AE45D62f542B9F7930DE16

Scripture References:

  • Matthew 6, Verse 10 - “Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
  • Colossians 3, Verse 23 - “And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men,”

Live Out Your Love Letter Challenge:
Discover your purpose by answering these 3 questions.

  1. What do you love to do and would do without getting paid or if no one was watching?
  2. What is your why and motivation behind fulfilling purpose?
  3. Are you willing to start "small" and possibly stay "small?"

Everything in one place: JasonAndRos.com

Live out your Love Letter. 💌

Welcome to Love Letters with Jason & Ros

SPEAKER_09

If you want to know what your purpose is, I would encourage you to take a minute and ask yourself, why is it so important that you know? What's your motive behind it? If you're unhappy and you're looking and you think your purpose is gonna make you happy, I can say I I love teaching. It's a dream, but I can't say I'm happier as a person because of it. I am fulfilled, no doubt. I can't say I'm happy. And here's my concern. I think sometimes people think if I could just do this, I'll get rid of that nagging unhappiness inside of me. Probably not, dear friends. But what will is if you change your thinking and find meaning in everything you do instead of in a career or in a ministry or something like that. But one thing that will do it is if you feel like you're called to the ministry or feel like you're called to teach, are you willing to teach a small Bible study forever and not get paid for it?

SPEAKER_02

You know, you you hear the term all the time. Well, I'm only human. I'm only human. Like it's a bad thing, like it's a like it's a small thing. It's a small thing or something negative. Something negative, yeah. You know, but but looking at you being human from the perspective of not only being in the image and the likeness of God, but recognizing that image and likeness from a human perspective is Jesus Christ. So if we look at Jesus from the perspective of being human, oh, we're we're not talking about he's only human. Yeah, we're talking about him embodying the Holy Spirit and living out in a way that brings heaven to earth. Yeah thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

SPEAKER_04

She asked this very profound question. She goes, What is the will of God for us and how much does it cost? And I said, Oh my God. I said, Well, to me, I firmly first believe that his will can only be accomplished if we know who he is, if we accept Christ, and we have to have the help of the Holy Spirit in the earth realm to do whatever it is that we're called to do, both collectively and individually. So the first thing I said is we need Christ and we need the Holy Spirit.

SPEAKER_00

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_04

But then I said, you know, Jesus said it very simple: love God, love others, and share the gospel. You know, how much does it cost? Really, truthfully, to me, it costs us giving up our own personal will in exchange for God's will.

SPEAKER_02

Today we have a special guest, Eric Lucetta. He has taught the Bible at Lakewood Church for over 15 years. He's very passionate about spiritual growth. He brings scripture to life with depth and practicality. He connects God's word to everyday life, equipping believers to live it out with faith and confidence. Hey,

Introducing Pastor Erik Luchetta

SPEAKER_02

we want to welcome you to another episode of Love Letters with Jason and Raj. We are so excited today because I have a special friend and guest here, Mr. Eric Lucetta. How are you? Very good. So glad to be here. Awesome. We're grateful to have you here. We've known each other for a long time.

SPEAKER_09

Yeah, long, long time. Long, long time.

SPEAKER_02

And recently, recently we reconnected at uh Lakewood University. We were going through the leadership program. The leadership program, yeah. Man, it's so good.

Defining Purpose & God’s Plan for Humanity vs. Individual Calling

SPEAKER_02

And so today we have you here to talk about purpose. And and the reason why we thought it would be good for you to talk about purpose is simply because of some of the things that we learned in the class. Right. Roz anything, right?

SPEAKER_04

Okay, let me just say this because it it's it applies to both of us. So that class, the theology class that you taught, it was the quintessential purpose for every person alive. And that has just become a mindset. That purpose is just about being human. And for us, it's like we can carry out our purpose the unique way that God designed it. We can carry out that purpose just by being human and being all that God has created us to be. So that was just so profound for us, and we just that's why we just had to have you on talk about purpose.

SPEAKER_09

Yeah. When we look at, and we'll get into it, but when we look at what God's plan is for humanity in general, when we understand that, it's amazing how much clarity comes to our life. Absolutely. And sometimes we get caught up in worrying about what's my calling, what's my purpose, what am I here to do. Whereas when we better understand what we're all here to do, it takes a lot of the pressure of this the individual calling. So I think it's going to be a really great discussion for our listeners. Awesome.

SPEAKER_02

Absolutely. Yes, yes, yes. Let's go ahead and kick in. One of the things that we were talking about is the simple definition of purpose. So from our perspective, it's like, you know, why something was created. You know, like for example, a knife. A knife's purpose is simply to cut.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

Right? But what makes it really different is whose hand.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, that's good.

SPEAKER_02

That's very good. So, you know, I can be a master chef and that knife can do some awesome meals, right? Um, I can, you know, be uh an artist and create amazing pieces of art. But if I'm in the hand of someone that has ill intent, yeah, you know, I can be very dangerous. So in talking about purpose, you know, how do you define purpose?

SPEAKER_09

Yeah, well, I think if you're looking at uh at an individual level, your your purpose, my purpose, well then yeah, it's it's about discovering what God has uniquely called us to do, why he gave us life right here, right now, in this time. Um, and that's really important. I just had somebody come up to me um maybe two weekends ago at church during prayer time. They came up for prayer, and what what did they want to pray for? They wanted to know what their purpose, what their calling was. Yeah. Who knows how many Christian books in particular have been written, sermons spoken over purpose. So there must be something going on there. But again, um I think where we're going isn't so much the individual purpose or calling, but what how do we, what is our, all of our calling? How do we join into that? And that has been studying that scripturally has probably been the most impactful thing I've studied in the last decade. And it actually changed how I read all of Scripture. Okay. And what we see in Scripture is God's the one defining what it means to be a human being and what it means to live in his world, to serve in his world. And um, that was just transformative. But like I said, yeah, there's really two ways to look at it our individual purpose and then the greater purpose of humanity that we're that we're looking at.

SPEAKER_04

That's a good distinction because a lot of times people don't think about that. It's like, what am I supposed to do? Right. Not what are all of us supposed to do.

SPEAKER_09

Right, right. And I and I think and there's nothing wrong, of course, with talking about what um we're individually called to do. It's in the scriptures. We can read it in 1 Corinthians, we can read it in Romans, it's throughout there. But here's the interesting thing that I found is that there's more said in the scripture about our purpose together, much more than our individual callings. They're both important, they both need to be taught and preached. But um the the one that's most revolutionary and found most in scripture is our common calling, our common purpose. I like that.

SPEAKER_02

No, absolutely. And you know, that's very insightful because even with our podcast, our focus is on relationships. So when we look at a more global type of purpose, we're looking at relationships. We're not looking at islands, we're looking at a body of believers that are working together to accomplish one specific goal. Yeah, right? Not just my calling, hey, you know, I got this gifts or this gift, or I need to be doing this or that. No, there's something bigger that we need to be looking at. So, with that in mind, how does faith and how does scripture help us to really tap into that so that we can have that sense of fulfillment? Right, right.

God’s Will On Earth As It Is In Heaven- Matthew 6:10

SPEAKER_09

Let me uh let me do a little bit of explaining. Okay. Bear with me for a minute, um, because I want to make sure that we're all on the same page. Okay, perfect. And speaking of pages, let's talk about the first page of the Bible. The first page of the Bible, God makes uh creation, puts Adam and Eve in it, has them tend over the world. And that calling back at Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden to rule and to tend God's world is still the calling of humanity today. And we know that's true because God called that very good. Yeah. And whatever God calls very good, he's committed to until the very end. Amen. He doesn't change his mind. And so we can actually see that the calling that's in Genesis, the creation account, runs all the way through to Revelation. Yeah. And here's what we find out more than anything else: that God created this world in particular so that he would dwell with human beings in the earth. The earth was meant to be and is still meant to be God's home with humanity. And in fact, that's exactly how the book of Revelation, the Bible, ends with heaven and earth coming together in a marriage.

SPEAKER_04

Yes.

SPEAKER_09

So, okay, great. That's God's plan. What's humans' part in that? Human beings are in large part the means by which God's rule in heaven is being done on earth so that heaven and earth look one and look like one another. Oh, yeah. So heaven and earth are meant to reflect one another. That if you look at the earth, you'd get a sense of what heaven is like. And if you looked at heaven, you'd get a sense of what the earth is supposed to look like. Yeah. Human beings haven't done a particularly great job. Me included. Me included. Guilty. Um but that's what it boils down to is how do we live our lives, live and work in the world in such a way where the earth reflects heaven a little bit more. That's what it boils down to. So when we talk about our individual calling or purpose, that individual calling and purpose would only be to serve the larger purpose of heaven and earth reflecting one another. So if it's preaching or teaching or being a doctor or being anything, it's somehow connected to God's larger vision of heaven and earth reflecting one another.

The Cost of Fulfilling Godly Purpose

SPEAKER_04

You know, it's funny because recently I had a friend of mine, a very close friend of mine, she we were having a conversation and she said, she asked this very profound question. She goes, What is the will of God for us and how much does it cost? And I said, Oh my God. I said, Well, to me, I firmly first believe that his will can only be accomplished if we know who he is, we accept Christ, and we have to have the help of the Holy Spirit in the earth realm to do whatever it is that we're called to do, both collectively and individually. So the first thing I said is we need Christ and we need the Holy Spirit.

SPEAKER_00

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_04

But then I said, you know, Jesus said it very simple. Love God, love others, and share the gospel. You know, how much does it cost? Really, truthfully, to me, it costs us giving up our own personal will in exchange for God's love. I I firmly believe that that's the cost. Yeah. Because Jesus paid for the hard stuff.

SPEAKER_09

Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. What does it cost? Here's what I found. It costs us to redefine what it means to be a human in God's world. Here's so much of what the fallen human nature is. We feel we are qualified to define things like human love, truth. Can we really define on our own what truth is apart from God? Well, no. And that that's what we see in scripture is that if you look at sin and Adam and Eve falling in humanity, what starts happening is human beings start ordering the world, not in such a way where it better reflects heaven, but we tend to order the world where we benefit even at the expense of other people. Yeah. Even if it makes even to the point of maybe oppressing other people or marginalizing, whatever that is, is that we tend to order our world where we benefit more than others. And it can come so naturally to act that way. And it's a matter of abandoning that and signing on with God's definition of humanity. And that's the ultimate cause. And it's a it's a process of learning, really, and developing, but it's saying, what am I really supposed to be here for as a human being in God's world? And again, what scripture shows is order the world in such a way where it looks like heaven.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, it looks like heaven.

What It Means to Be Human

SPEAKER_02

Okay, this is this is very good conversation. So so one thing that you don't that you may not know a lot of our viewers may not be Christians, right? Okay, so they they may not have a faith that's that's rooted in in God and and in God's word. So there's still that I need to understand about my purpose because there's something inside of them that is drawing them to fulfill something, but they may not know what it is that they want to fulfill. Now, you you said something about you know, people want to define truth, people want to define what human is. So help us to understand what is being human.

SPEAKER_09

You know, when we talk about being human, it we quickly go and we should to the phrase image of God. Right? Made in the image of God. And if you look at that, there's a lot that has been said and can be said of what does it mean to be made in the image of God. Yeah. And what we find is in scripture that to be made in the image of God is basically a job description. Imagine you are you're uh you're applying for a job, you get the job on your first day, what they what they hand you is here's a list of your roles and responsibilities, here's how you know if you're doing well or not. Yeah, exactly. You get fired. Then you're not. But if you get that job description, and right across the top, the title of your job description is Image of God. And then right beneath that lists all of the duties. That's God's ultimate will. What we find is that in scriptures through the fall, human beings need to be restored in a condition where they can fully live up to and be that. Nevertheless, even when somebody's a not a and I would encourage, of course, everybody to become a believer in Jesus Christ and receive salvation, but what you also see in scripture is that God is actually quite pleased even when non-ben believers do something that reflects God's will for the world and for humanity. So for example, the Apostle Paul says in Philippians, whatever is lovely, whatever is pure, whatever is noble, whatever is good report, think about these things. Now we as Christians hear Paul say that, and we think, oh, what Paul is saying is whatever is noble and Christian, think on that. Whatever is lovely and Christian, think of that. But that's not how the wording works. Paul is saying it doesn't matter if somebody else of a different faith does something to relieve the suffering of another human being, that should be applauded. That God is even somehow using that person who doesn't know him to fulfill his larger purposes for creation.

SPEAKER_06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_09

So yes, um, we are called to do that, but we should be celebrating any time we see the earth look a little bit more like heaven.

SPEAKER_02

Man, I absolutely yeah, I absolutely love that because what that begins to do, it begins to break down certain barriers that keep us from moving into a faith with Jesus Christ. It's like, okay, I I can live human right where I am. Not realizing that living human right where you are draws you closer to the one who has clearly defined what human is in my life. At what point did you come to that revelation and how that applies to you personally?

SPEAKER_09

Well, like most things, it seems like an accident. You know, you're kind of just studying and then you bump into something.

SPEAKER_04

You fall into human.

SPEAKER_09

Yeah, exactly. You know, I used to say, and I still say this, we need to know who we are in Christ. Yeah. We absolutely need to know who we are in Christ. But Jesus came in the flesh as a human being. So, in a sense, we have to learn what it means to be human.

SPEAKER_06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_09

As much as we need, if we if we talk about we need to know who we are in Christ, we have to first ask, who is the Christ that we are in? And he was made flesh, yeah, human. And so he is ultimately revealed. He's he's God's man.

SPEAKER_08

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_09

This is he he is the human that God always wanted. He's the son who says, I'm well pleased. This is the human being I'm looking for. And here's the amazing thing: the life that is of Jesus is given out freely to anyone who calls on his name to be transformed and conformed to his image of humanity. Um, and so as much as I was looking at, you know, who's who is Jesus? Well, Jesus is God, and then I started learning more about well, he's God in the flesh, and what does that mean? And in particular, why is he called the second and last Adam in the book of Romans? He's called an Adam, he's going all the way back to the garden. And it was probably that verse, the second and last Adam, that became a catalyst of going back to the garden. And the more I looked at the garden, Genesis 1, 2, and 3, what I realized is this. The creation account doesn't tell us so much how we got here. God did this, then he created this, and then he did this, and then he created this. It's not so much about how we got here, it's about why we are here. And the why is a much more important question than how we got here. Oh, absolutely. And it is ultimately that why that is found in the creation story. And if it's read slowly, what you realize it is about ruling in the earth in such a way where God's presence and his will is done here on the earth. And so what basically pulled me into that study is looking at Jesus. And and here's the thing that I find fascinating, and has changed my study in the last like four or five years, I would say, is that when you look at the creation account in that way and you look at what it means to be human, you get to see God in a fresh perspective. Yeah. And it's almost as if our physical body and our humanity is some sort of secondary thing. It's almost like the well, the flesh is bad, and one day we'll all be gone and we'll all go to heaven. Although that's not how the Bible ends. The Bible surprisingly ends with us back here in the earth in resurrected bodies. Yeah, actually, his kingdom comes here, and heaven and earth get married.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_09

And so it began to change my thinking. Like, so being human is not about escaping the earth, it's about shaping the earth. And that's where purpose really starts coming in. And it changes how you read every verse in the Bible. That that little switch, that little change is actually much more significant than I first thought, you know, four or five years ago.

SPEAKER_02

Well, I tell you this in the class, that whole concept, it it shifted our mindset on how we even look at being human. You know, you you hear the term all the time. Well, I'm only human. I'm only human.

SPEAKER_03

Like it's a mad.

SPEAKER_02

Like it's a small thing. It's a small thing, or it's something negative. Something negative, yeah. You know, but but looking at being human from the perspective of not only being in the image and the likeness of God, but recognizing that that image and likeness from a human perspective is Jesus Christ. So if we look at Jesus from the perspective of being human, oh, we're we're not talking about he's only human. Yeah, we're talking about him embodying the Holy Spirit and living out in a way that brings heaven to earth. Yeah, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven, right? And then something else beautiful about Jesus, and this I absolutely love. Well, Jesus, why are you here? His response was always the same to do the will of the Father. So, as human beings, our job here being in Image bearers is to do the will of the Father.

SPEAKER_09

Yeah, I think what I see in scripture is one of the things that tends to show up that if you're expressing the sort of humanity that God is looking for, a lot of it has to do with setting wrong things right. And it's in big things and in small things. So let's just say you're thirsty. You're like, man, I'm really thirsty. I give you some water. Well, I just made something right that was just wrong a minute ago. Something as small as this. Let me ask you this: is anybody starving in heaven? Right now in heaven, is ever anybody hungry and starving? No. Well, then we can know it's God's will that nobody goes hungry on earth. Yeah, that's right. Because if somebody's starving on the earth, heaven and earth aren't reflecting one another. And so what do we do? In love, we go out and we feed those who need to be fed. But it's more than an act of love, it's almost a prophetic sign that in that one moment you're making things right for that person. Yeah. But one day when Jesus returns, everything will be set right forever. In other words, you're hungry now, I'm gonna feed you, and in about four hours you're gonna be hungry again. But one day we will never be hungry, and God's will will be perfectly done on earth as it is in heaven. So even we talk about kind of being human in God's world, we shouldn't make it complicated. Like it's like we have to go out and do these big things. Yeah. I'm simply talking about if you have a friend who's been diagnosed with a terminal illness and they are depressed and afraid, call them or text them and say, I want you to know I'm thinking about you, I am praying for you. Lift up their spirits for a little bit at least. Because, let me ask you, is anybody depressed or anxious in heaven right now? Is anybody sick in heaven? No, which is why we pray for the sick, because there's none of that in heaven. Yeah, that's how, in a sense, we act as God's priests and rulers in his world,

Living Out Purpose in the “Little” Things

SPEAKER_09

setting wrong things right, and it's typically the small things. I have found more meaning in setting small things right, doing little things than doing big, great things. Yeah. And again, it goes back to that mindset that if you set something right, you are expressing the humanity that God is looking for. And God receives that. Actually, I think that when Jesus returns, or when if we die and our bodies go on the ground and we go to heaven and we wait for the resurrection, I think we will be shocked at what God praises us or rewards us for. What we're gonna think of these big things, and he's gonna be like, No, remember when you you helped that person and you gave them 50 bucks, and you're like, that's yeah, it's it's a small thing.

SPEAKER_04

What you're saying is so profound because even for me, I've always done this, but now when I do it, I think about I'm doing something right.

SPEAKER_09

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04

So you know what one of the things I absolutely hate is when I go to the grocery store and I'm either parking in the parking lot and there's this big shopping cart in the lane. Or when I come out of the grocery store, I probably left it there. I come out of the grocery store and there's this cart, you know, right behind my car, and I can't get out. So every single time, even if it's not my cart, if I see somebody else's car like that and I see parking and I see carts, you know, just sprued all over the place, I just put them back. I mean, put them back in the cart lane.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04

And every time I do that, it's like nobody's watching.

SPEAKER_09

Yeah. But I mean, it brought order.

SPEAKER_04

I feel so much better because I'm saving somebody else the half-some that I feel when people do that.

SPEAKER_02

And uh, you know what, Roz, this is so good. Because what we're doing now is giving practical, yeah, everyday examples of what that looks like. So, you know, for me, we've we've got this trail in our community, right? This one might be slightly gross. Oh, well, oh well, well, then I want to hear it. Let's go. Well, you know, there are people on the trail with dogs.

SPEAKER_03

A lot of dogs.

SPEAKER_02

A lot of dogs. Okay. And so I'm walking down this one part, and there were dog droppings. Bottom line, there were dog droppings. And I thought to myself, man, this is so messed up. You know, people want to just go on the trail and enjoy themselves. Well, as I'm walking, I start, I start getting this strong sense of here's an opportunity to bring beauty in order. So, what I did, I didn't use my hand. I was kind of getting a mental image there. I used my hand, but I didn't use my hand. All of and this is the crazy part. All along the trail, they have these uh stations where you can get to pick up.

SPEAKER_04

Toss it in the garbage.

SPEAKER_02

So I I walked a long way, I got the back, and then I walked all the way back. I picked it up and threw it away. Here's the impact part. This is the best way I can put it, the impact part. And then I'm I'm gonna ask you to tell a story. Okay. So here's the impact part. There was a couple that was further back from me, right? So in me going to get the bag and going to get the poop, now we're really close to one another. And I happen to have on a shirt that had a scripture on the back of it. So now we're we're both at the corner together, and they're thanking me for coming back and picking up my dog's poop. And I told them, I said, Oh, that wasn't from my dog. I said, we don't even have a dog. I said, it's just, you know, I know no one really likes this on the trail. Wow. That made such an impact on them. It's like, wow, he actually took the time to do that, and they were very appreciative, but then they referenced the scripture that was on the back of my shirt. And he was like, You're really living that out, aren't you? Wow. That is fantastic. Man, just amazing. And you know, it just it just doesn't apply to adults. Oh, yeah, yeah. It applies to our children. And so one of the things that we talk about with the podcast, you know, we talk about it being for individuals, we talk about it being for couples, whether they're dating, engaged, or married. But then we also talk about this being for parents because it gives you the opportunity to sow into the lives of the next generation to train them up in the way that they should go. So, in thinking about training our children to be human, I was listening to a podcast where you were being interviewed. And man, you told this amazing story about how you walked your daughter through a situation she was having at school with one of her peers, and how she had the opportunity to bring order and beauty in her school. Yeah, you want to tell us that that's yeah.

SPEAKER_09

Well, first of all, I that story uh of you know of cleaning up that dog waste there, I am gonna steal that. That is gonna be in my next message. Okay, so I I think the rule is if you hear it one time, maybe you give credit to the person, but then after that it's yours. So I'll mention your name. Um, but yeah, you know, my daughter, she's 10 years old. Yeah, um, she I'm a Bible teacher, she watches a lot of my content and she understands, you know, the idea of heaven and earth coming together and all of these things. Um but one day I picked her up from school and I said, Olivia, you know, how was school today? And she said, Fine. And she never responds that way. It's always, oh, it was great. And so, you know how it is with kids when you sense something is wrong, you can't run in there and say, Tell me what's going on, tell me what's going on. So I was just patient, and within a few minutes I found out what was going on, and she was um kind of being mistreated by another classmate. It wasn't bullying, but it was bordering it. Borderline? Yeah, it was kind of getting kind of close to it. And um, and so my daughter, I could tell my daughter was upset about it, and uh she said, you know, dad, what can we do about this? And you know, my first thought is, well, let me go to the teacher, I'll talk to the teacher, and I'll, you know, we'll work it out. And then I thought, you know, she's 10 years old. For the rest of her life, she's gonna be running into situations where people don't approve of her, say things bad to her, hurt her feelings. She's gonna, you know, have to learn how to walk through this process. And I said to my daughter, I said, okay, when you go to school tomorrow, I said, Do you think this classmate is gonna be rude to you again? And she said, Oh yeah. I was like, oh, great. And I said, Well, okay, if she's rude to you again, just say to her, hey, what you just said hurts my feelings. Please don't talk to me like that. I said, Be respectful, but just share your feelings and ask that she doesn't treat you like that. She said, Okay, dad, I will. You know, she was kind of nervous, she was acting almost like she was going into war or something the next day. I'm like, it's really not that big of a deal. Um, so uh I take her to school the next day, I drop her off, and of course, all day long I'm wondering, I wonder how this is gonna go. So I pick her up though at the end of the day, and she gets in the car, and I say, How was school today? She said, Dad, it was amazing. I said, Well, what happened? She goes, Oh, you would not believe it. So she tells the story, and my daughter says, Well, I went to school this morning, and within five minutes, this student was rude to me. She said something rude, and I responded with that hurt my feelings, please don't talk to me like that. So my daughter said that to this classmate, and the classmate was like, Whatever, turned and walked away. A few hours later at uh recess, same thing. Was rude to my daughter. My daughter said, Please don't talk to me like that, that hurts my feelings. Whatever, turns and walks away. But then five minutes before school let out, this student came up to my daughter, looked her in the eye, and said, I am so sorry. I know I have been hurting your feelings. I'm gonna try and do better. And they hugged. Oh, nice. And here's what my daughter said. She said, You know, she said, Dad, you know, I was thinking about how when we forgave each other and we hugged, heaven and earth looked like each other a little bit more. Wow,

The Importance of Forgiveness in Fulfilling Purpose

SPEAKER_09

and so she realized that forgiveness in that moment is actually a reflection of heaven. It's more than just see, when we forgive, it's more than just, hey, Jason, you hurt my feeling, it's okay. No, we come together and in that one moment, heaven and earth reflect one another. There's no strife, there's no unforgiveness in heaven. Yeah. So when that gets resolved, heaven and earth reflect one another. And actually, I think scripturally speaking, perhaps the greatest sign of expressing what it means to be human right now in God's world is to forgive. It seems to be the single greatest thing that it's almost the means by which heaven and earth reflect one another. Without forgiveness, there is no reflecting heaven and earth.

SPEAKER_05

Yeah.

SPEAKER_09

So if we as Christians refuse to forgive, how can we bear his image? How can we be, we can't be? And then we have to sometimes go through the painful process of forgiving those who hurt us.

SPEAKER_06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_09

And it is a process, and the pain is real. But um, my but my point in that is here's my daughter, she's 10 years old. She understood what happened in that moment. And I believe that that will help her the next time she has to forgive, or the next time she has to ask for forgiveness for hurting somebody else. But but that's the purpose right there. The purpose of humanity is for heaven and earth to reflect one another. Strife and unforgiveness is probably the single greatest thing that prevents heaven and earth from reflecting one another. But it's so simple a 10-year-old can understand it. Yeah. And it becomes the guiding light for what she's supposed to be like and do in day-to-day life.

SPEAKER_04

Man, were you gonna say something? Go ahead. Say this one little thing. You know, when you really think about it, it's even in the prayer that that you know that that Jesus taught them. He said, You say, Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

SPEAKER_09

Forgive it. The next thing after on earth as in heaven.

SPEAKER_04

Forgiveness.

SPEAKER_09

Yeah, forgiveness is the next thing said.

SPEAKER_04

But we only we only really receive forgiveness when we understand that we have to give out forgiveness.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04

That is the thing. We have to forgive, yeah, just as we've been forgiven. Yeah, and that keeps me conscious because sometimes I'm offended by people, and it's like, if I can just get that, like when Jesus was on the cross, he said forgive them for they don't know what they're doing. Sometimes they do know what they're doing. But if I can just get in the mindset, even if even though they think they know what they're doing, they really don't know it. They still don't really know, they don't know the big picture. Yeah, like I know the big picture. So I can forgive them even though they don't deserve it, or even if they don't ask me to forgive them, I gotta automatically forgive.

SPEAKER_09

Yeah, I think that's um, you know, when we're going through pain of being offended, we're gonna need as many reasons to forgive as possible. In other words, you need a strong why. Why should I forgive? My father did this to me as I was a child growing up. Why should I forgive? You're gonna need a strong why if you're gonna forgive so that heaven and earth reflect one another.

SPEAKER_06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_09

And again, yes, it is a process, but when we understand you know what God wants for humanity, it helps to strengthen us to do those tough things. You know, I think about, you know, we're we're here in Houston, we're in the Houston area, and drivers are crazy. The highways are nuts here, and they're getting crazier since the pandemic has gotten worse. And there's plenty of opportunities to be offended. Oh, for sure. Road rage is through the roof. Oh my goodness. I mean, and so all of these things here are going on. And so let's just say somebody cuts me off, and I'm tempted to get mad and fight back and start screaming. I have to understand there's something bigger going on than me and this moment of this guy cutting me off who might not even know they cut me off. Um, there's something bigger going on, and that bigger thing is God wants his will in heaven to be done on earth, and he has graciously allowed me to be part of the family by which God is doing so much of that work.

SPEAKER_06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_09

And I have a higher calling than getting mad at somebody who cut me off. Oh, for sure. I have a higher purpose than that. I can't, I can't, I can't contaminate my mind with angry thoughts and still be this and practice that way of thinking and still effectively be that sort of person that God is looking for.

SPEAKER_02

Man, you are dropping gold nuggets. All right. Okay, I I just want to step back to unforgiveness for a moment. So, Roz and I, we we talk about the power of forgiving. Oh, yeah. And the reason why there's such a power is simply this. When we forgive, two things happen. Okay. Me forgiving you gives me the opportunity to extend grace. Yeah, yeah. That is good, yeah. And what it does for you, it gives you the opportunity to receive unconditional love. You you talk about a reflection of Jesus Christ, reflecting God here in the earth realm to extend grace, yeah, just like God extended grace to us through his son, Jesus Christ, and to receive unconditional love just like God provided through his son, Jesus Christ. That's a powerful thing. When we don't forgive, we miss out on the opportunity to experience that and to receive it.

SPEAKER_04

That's right.

SPEAKER_09

You know, it can be easy to make people's pains almost trivial and say, well, just forgive them, as if that's easy. But again, it goes back to that larger why, and like you just said, kind of understanding what's going on in that moment, the giving and the receiving in that moment. It's more than just forgive them, it's power, and it's powerful, and it's the means by which God's will is done here on earth as it is in heaven. And it really does more and more. The more I study scripture. If somebody came to me and said, Okay, I want uh Eric, if bearing God's image is about setting wrong things right, Eric, what's the number one thing? I'd say, Who do you need to forgive? And let's start there.

SPEAKER_02

Oh my goodness. It's it's so funny because it's it's kind of like the I think it was the rich young ruler who came up to Jesus and like, hey man, what do I need to do to be safe? He's like, Okay, go sell all your stuff. And he walked away with his tail between his lips. Sad, depressed, made it worse. That's exactly what you're saying as it relates to forgiveness.

SPEAKER_09

And I think though, I think sometimes here's what happens. I've fallen into this trap. Sometimes we can be hurt so bad and become so upset and so angry, quite frankly, that we think God is on our side and he's angry and just as upset, and that whatever we feel like we want to give to that person and payback, like God just approves it. Like, go ahead, yeah, give it to him. In fact, give this to him as well. Years ago, many years ago, I was talking to this one guy, and um he said to me, He said, Eric, you know, my my father did things to me that are just unimaginable. And I can tell that as he was saying that, he was getting more and more angry. And then he said to me these words He says, Eric, I hate that man, and I will never forgive him, and God will understand. And I said, God understands that you hurt, that you were wronged, you experienced injustice. I said, but if you think that God is on your side saying, do not forgive him, hate him, you're wrong. It's not happening that way. He's going to walk you down a path of forgiveness because that's where you find out what life is. That's where you find out where your purpose is.

SPEAKER_06

Exactly.

SPEAKER_09

I mean, if it kind of goes back to the first, one of the first things that you mentioned, Roz, is that, you know, what is it that we have to do, or what is the cost? Sometimes the cost is saying it's forgiveness regardless of the offense. Yeah. And that can be painful. But that's where stay, this is where staying in a community of believers is so important. People who have signed up and said, I'm here to support, I'm here to live this way, I'm here to support you as you do it, and as you support me, we're going to be the image bearer that we see in Jesus because this is the family that's shaping the world. And when I said Jesus is Lord and I made him the Lord of my life, whether I knew it or not, I signed up for this. That's what you signed up for. You'd actually, more than signing up to go to heaven when you die, you signed up to bring heaven to earth. That's what you signed up for. Not to escape the earth, but to shape the earth. Oh man.

SPEAKER_04

If you don't know, you're gonna know. You're gonna keep living.

SPEAKER_02

That's exactly right. You're gonna.

SPEAKER_04

You're gonna know.

SPEAKER_02

Oh my goodness, this is such a good discussion.

Alarming Statistics on Purpose

SPEAKER_02

Okay, I I gotta share a couple of statistics with you. Okay, great. Because I I think what's happening here is the foundation for purpose is starting to get clearer. Okay. Now, the reason why that's so important is because of these statistics I'm gonna read to you. Okay? Yeah. I don't think these are on your script, are they? No, no, they're not. No, they're not. Here comes that curveball. Okay. This is gonna be about the percentage of people who are unsure of their purpose. Okay. And and we're going to do it um generationally.

SPEAKER_07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

Oh, okay. Okay. So 74% of millennials are unsure about their purpose. 74%. 68% of Gen Z, 62% of baby boomers. That one's surprising. That one was very, very surprising.

SPEAKER_00

I'm quite surprised at that.

SPEAKER_02

Okay? And 61% of Gen X. My take on those percentages is simply they don't understand what purpose that truly is. And and I think that's one of the the core foundations of this conversation today is establishing what that is, establishing why. I'm here. It's not so much what do I need to be doing. Because that'll change from season to season.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

I mean, there was a season we weren't sitting here doing podcasting. Right. But our purpose has never changed. Exactly. Now, how that purpose is being applied or the application of that purpose, that changes. And I believe that that lack of surety is really tied into the application, not so much of what it truly is.

SPEAKER_09

Yeah. Yeah, I think sometimes we conflate purpose with career or occupation. Exactly. Or sometimes we might think about purpose and calling in terms of ministry. That's that's big amongst Christian, you know, amongst Christians is you know, purpose and calling. But when you tell me those numbers, it reminds me of this one this one gentleman who came up to me after service one day. And uh early in the conversation, I just happened to ask him, I said, Well, what do you do? What do you do for a living? And he kind of put his head down in shame and said, Well, I I drive truck, I drive 18-wheelers, that's what I do. And I thought to myself, you just do that? Think about this. What if every truck driver right now in the country went on strike and said for the next three months, we're not hauling any loads, we're not gonna bring clothes, water, food, medicine, anything.

SPEAKER_04

We're not picking up garbage.

SPEAKER_09

We're not picking up garbage. We're not that that's actually a good point. What would happen if all of a sudden we no longer have food, water, clothing, or medication? It's gonna be chaos. Yeah. I mean, we saw what happened in COVID when COVID hit and things started shutting down. There are people I am convinced right now who still have 92 rolls of toilet paper hidden in their house somewhere. You couldn't find anything on shelves, canned food was gone. Well, that's no lights. Yeah, hand sanitizer should have invested in hand sanitizer. But all of those things that we need and appreciate get there through trucks primarily. 18-wheelers, so that would all go away. Chaos would break out, disorder. If that happened, is the chaos that that's going on in that moment also going on in heaven? No, it's ordered. So one of the things that truck drivers do is actually playing an extremely significant role. There's no just being a truck driver. We should be thanking truck drivers actually because they're they're playing, they're the backbone so much of a functioning, healthy society. Yeah. And so going back to this idea, those statistics that you read off, how many of those people are looking at what they do for a living and really seeing that there's purpose right there in that?

SPEAKER_07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_09

Or like you just mentioned a second ago, with what if every uh sanitation worker, garbage collector, they just said, We're going on strike for the next three months, we're not picking up any garbage. Are you kidding me? In two weeks we would have garbage piled as high as our house. And what does that breed? Sickness, rodents, and so garbage collectors are playing a vital role in the functioning ordered society.

How Purpose & Love Contribute to the Greater Good

SPEAKER_09

So here's what I encourage people to do. If they're struggling with purpose, they should stop right where they're at and say, How is what you're doing right now, even at your job, how is it somehow create uh contributing to the ordered system where if you and all of your peers doing what you do disappeared, what would happen to society?

SPEAKER_06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_09

And I have found here's what I found, and this is the beautiful thing. People might say, Eric, you're a pastor and a teacher at a church and you're really doing the work of the Lord. Well, in a sense, yes, but anything that you do that contributes to the beauty, the order, the justice of society is actually a spiritual act. There's really no difference between here's the thing in scripture, there's no difference between secular and sacred. So if we're talking about a purpose, we we need to be very careful because a lot of times what that means is that there's almost a spiritual purpose and and it almost has to be pastoral or something evangelical or being a missionary or a worshiper or something. But actually, no, it's picking up trash. That's vitally important. It's sending a text to somebody who's struggling, it's giving $50 to somebody who doesn't know where their next meal is coming from. It's all those little things that you're actually fulfilling your purpose. I think most people, I think most people are fulfilling their purpose and they have no idea they're doing it. And they should be celebrating it and they're not right with that one. You were gonna say something?

SPEAKER_04

No, I was disagreeing with that.

SPEAKER_09

Man, gold nuggets. But you can see how this could really change your thinking. It changed my thinking. You know, um, one of my teaching partners, Jeremy Marone at church, you know, we talk a lot about, you know, as pastors, um, yeah, we have like basically a 40-hour a week job being a pastor, and but I'm also a husband. Yeah, um, I'm all of these other things. Is my purpose only what I do for 40 hours a week? Or is it every moment of the day? And it's about finding how that purpose and that calling to make heaven and earth look like each other should be going on every single minute in every single decision you make, words you speak, thought you have. It's how does this, or how does it not, make heaven and earth look like one another? And I do that for, you know, I teach, you know, 40 hours a week at work for church, but there's more than 40 hours in a week. There's a lot more going on. It's can you see, can you do you understand what it means to have a purpose and to bear God's image, even in the seemingly small, mundane things.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_09

And when you do, you realize there's really nothing different between what is secular and sacred and and that. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04

I think what's happening here is we're realizing that purpose is not just what you do. Purpose is everything about who you are.

SPEAKER_00

Oh, that's good.

SPEAKER_04

God has created you to be. And every purpose and function is unique. You know, not everybody is a husband, father, pastor. You know, some of us are wives, mothers, and cooks, you know, chefs, whatever. Everybody's call or purpose is a little different, but yet it's the same. Yeah. Because it's the purpose is for the collective. How you, your unique portion of that is just what you know God has put in your life and on whatever platform, because even the platform changes.

SPEAKER_00

Right.

SPEAKER_04

You know, sometimes you're just a pastor at home, you know, teaching.

SPEAKER_02

Oh, that's good.

SPEAKER_04

Watching your family, your siblings and parents, and all that. Other times, you know, you're a pastor at a church. Right. So, I mean, I think about people like Peter, James, and John. They're they were fishermen. Yeah, they were out doing their thing, they know every aspect of fishing. But one day they get this huge catch because Jesus is on the boat.

SPEAKER_05

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04

And then Jesus is like, okay, same purpose, different platform. Yeah. You were catching fish, now you're gonna catch souls.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04

And so it's like, I'm gonna use you now, same purpose, but just on a different platform. So we've got to understand that life changes, life shifts. And sometimes you're a parent, and then sometimes you're not. Sometimes you're a spouse, and sometimes you're not. Things change uh with life, and and with each change, the collective changes, the platform by which we fill out or carry out our purpose changes. Yeah, and I think that's the thing, that's the take-home that we we've got to understand.

SPEAKER_02

And and if I could say this real quick, there's two aspects to that, right? There's the day-to-day, the moment by moment. Here, why don't you have coffee before I have coffee? Right, right, right. You know, let me let me pick this, let somebody walk by the garbage. Let me just pick this trash up and and put it in the garbage, right? Those are those those little things. And then there are the the bigger things. It's like, okay, yeah, it's a it's a shift in a career, but my why for doing what it is that I do, that has not changed. It doesn't change. That does not change. So so what we're doing is really establishing the why and really understanding the why.

SPEAKER_09

Yeah. Whether I'm I'm operating in the moment as a father, as a husband, as a pastor, as a friend, or whatever, that really the guiding light is whatever in that moment, what is love in that moment? It's amazing while things, you really you don't have to have all the answers to life. You you just just commit to the love walk.

SPEAKER_08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_09

You know, it to walk in love and to be committed to that is really a sign of maturity, at least in terms of Christian maturity, biblical maturity, to say I've signed on to it. So whether to answer your question, there are a lot of different things, components of life and roles that we play.

SPEAKER_06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_09

But the ultimate guiding light in whatever role we're fulfilling in that moment is is this love? Is this the loving thing to do? Because right along with that is truth. Yeah. To walk in love is true. Yeah. To walk in love, then, is to see heaven and earth come together, to be the means by which God's will is being done on earth. So what what I and that's not always easy.

SPEAKER_06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_09

Um, but it's required. Uh, and when we say Jesus is Lord, this is what we're signing up for, loving, particularly those who hurt and offend us. But it's amazing how it's amazing though how that love overthrows that work of evil and harm and hurt and undoes it. And so, really, our role as a husband, father, whatever, is as we are walking in love, in whatever role, we're actually making things better and making wrong things right along the way. You know, here's another thing. So I last night I helped my daughter with her math homework. She was she had some questions on some things and was getting stuck on something. So, you know, and and I help her all the time with her math homework. And actually, I'm bearing God's image when I do that because she has a need. Right? She's in school, she wants to do well. But also, society has a need. We need the next generation of educated people who can keep the keep society moving forward for for the flourishing of humanity and for the flourishing of creation. So even as I'm helping her with her math, I'm mindful that my work there as a father is actually contributing to her good and the good of creation. So this ties back to the stats that you gave. So for all those people who are struggling with their calling, have they considered how their job, their work, their career is contributing to the functioning of society? They'll find more meaning in what they do. If they have children and they help their children with homework, do you see how you're bearing God's image in that? Do you see how if you pick up a piece of trash and put it in the garbage can and you restore some, or don't restore some beauty there? These are all small acts that in God's mind are actually very big.

SPEAKER_06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_09

We see that as just part of life. God sees that as part of humanity.

SPEAKER_06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_09

And that's why I said before, I think that I think we're gonna be surprised one day on you know when the Bible talks about the rewards we will receive. I think we'll be shocked at what he rewards us for and what he puts primary. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04

It's not gonna be those big things.

SPEAKER_09

It's really not. I mean, He's gonna be like, Jason, you remember that poop trail? Actually, you know, yeah, I'll I'll tell a quick story here. Um, that I used to be proud of until I heard your poop trail story. So, you know, so working for a church, you know, you know, I'm I'm in I'm in the building, and every once in a while, particularly if it's after a service and there's thousands of people that come to our church, you're bound to find a piece of trash on the ground. Somebody drops it accidentally, whatever. And so I pick it up and I put it in the garbage. Why do I do that? Well, because trash belongs in the trash can, it doesn't belong on the ground. God, you know, at our church gave us a beautiful facility. If trash is on the ground, it detracts from the beauty of what God has given us. So if trash is on the ground, I pick up and I put it in there and I bore God's image and I restored some beauty. So um several weeks ago, I'm walking down the hallways of church, and way down I can see a little something on the ground, like a white piece of paper or something. It's way down there. So I'm like, well, I'm gonna, I'm gonna bear God's image. I'm gonna walk down there, I'm gonna pick it up, and I'm gonna put it in the garbage. And as I'm getting closer, I realize, oh, that's a tissue. And as I'm getting closer, I'm thinking, I'm hoping that's not a used tissue.

SPEAKER_02

I'm good.

SPEAKER_09

So sure enough, I get there and it is a used tissue. I don't know what was going on. And I thought to myself, God, there is no way you want me to pick this up. And I thought, well, go into the restroom, get a paper towel, pick it up, and put it in there. Now, I was proud of myself that I did that right until I heard your story, which is why I'm telling you I'm gonna I'm gonna steal your story, your poop trail story. But I mean, that's it's it's in those small things, but sometimes those things are gross.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, so okay, here's here's Or uncomfortable. No, for real. Here's the power behind what you're saying. Because we always, well, let me not say we, but there's that tendency to justify why we're not. Yeah, that's so good. So it's like, ugh, that might have that might have COVID on it. I was ready to do it right until I saw what it was. Exactly. But go ahead and keep going. No, no, no, seriously. There there are situations where there's an opportunity to, but there's always that reason that says, well, maybe I don't have to do that because of this. Yeah. So there's always going to be a temptation that tries to keep us from fulfilling what God has called us to do to bring that love in order.

SPEAKER_09

And I think because that's true, because there's always a temptation or a reason to not do something that we probably should do, that's why we need the bigger why. Yes. You need you need to know why you should do those things so you keep doing those things, particularly when you don't want to do those things. That's why, being made in God's image, bearing his image, being his king and priest in God's world, really boils down to a strong why. So if you're offended, you forgive why. Well, because that's what we do as this is the sort of human we pick up trash or whatever it is. But that's what I found in my life is that as I'm studying and reading scripture, that's what's strengthening and anchoring me. That that what is going on right now in God's world and what will happen when Jesus returns and sets everything right, everything has meaning right now. Yeah, and to strengthen that why anchors us to keep going forward. That's good.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah, I think my why is just I want to please God. I want to please my Father.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04

And however way I need to do that, even if it hurts, you know, even forgiving somebody, it's like, why would I worry about forgiving? I mean, for forgiving someone, it's like, oh, he's he's already, there's there's nothing, there's no hurt that you can forgive that he won't give you more joy in return. And and even for that person to be restored, joy in that. So there's nothing that could be taken away from me from another person, or there's no hurt that could be put on me that God can't restore and fix. That's right. So that is my why. And and in doing that, I know I can trust God to restore however way he wants to, and I'm gonna be fine.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04

Because I know in doing it, I'm pleasing him, not so much the other person.

SPEAKER_02

So, Eric, I've got a question for you. For those that are watching, one thing that we want to do is we want to be able to give our audience a biblical truth that they can hold on to as it relates to the particular topic. So today we're talking about purpose. Is there a particular Bible truth that you want to share with the audience that can help them as they move into this new journey?

SPEAKER_09

Yeah, uh well, we've talked about a lot. And the one thing that that I repeated several times and that we talked about is that the reason why God created human beings is so that his will would be done on earth as it is in heaven. It's that heaven and earth would reflect one another. That's what we see in the garden. God living with Adam and Eve in a world where heaven and earth are connected. Yeah, they're actually in that moment together. Here's what I would say: the one thing. I would challenge and encourage our listeners to think about what they do in their day-to-day life, whether it's at work or at home, and see can you find out how what you're doing in that moment is bringing some sort of order or some sort of beauty? What if you stop doing it right now? And what if everybody who's doing what you're doing stopped right then? What would happen? And you start to see society starts to fray, families start to fray. And again, but when you're thinking I'm here because heaven and earth are to reflect one another, that's the one truth I would say that I re that I anchor myself in on a regular basis, yeah, uh, is to think to think that way. Think biblically of heaven and earth coming together.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah. That that

Biblical Truth- Colossians 3:23

SPEAKER_02

reminds me of Colossians, I think, 3 and 23. And whatever you do, do it as unto the Lord and not unto men. So having that mindset and thinking about just the day-to-day, the simple things that I do, it's like, here's an here's an opportunity for me to do it as unto the Lord and not unto me.

SPEAKER_09

Yeah, yeah. Yeah, I think that's a really good point. Because even that verse, the meaning of that verse changed in my thinking over the years. To do it unto the Lord would be doing it as an image bearer for the sake of heaven and earth reflecting one. Like it's the and you, whatever feelings you have of anger or frustration, to in time let them begin to take a backseat to the bigger picture. Yeah. I'm doing it. I'm doing this unto him. I'm doing it for the I'm bearing God's image. I'm participating in God's rule in and through the earth.

SPEAKER_02

And what we have to be careful of with that is disconnecting the human or the other person from that. Because it can just be, oh, I'm just doing this unto the Lord. Right. Well, that which you've done to the least of these, you've done it also unto me. So we we have to be careful not to disconnect those that are around us when we're focusing in on doing it as unto the Lord.

SPEAKER_09

Yeah, and I think if you're doing it unto the Lord, it would always in some ways be an outward focus.

SPEAKER_04

And then the last thing I was gonna say is we we don't want to get caught up with comparing. Like they're over there doing this one big beautiful thing that you know, they're doing this for their, they've been doing this their whole lives and it's fabulous, and they're famous, and everybody knows them. But what I do is so insignificant. Yeah, you know, I and I know that society puts pressure and it's on title and position and fame and fortune, and we look up to people that are famous versus, you know, the person that, you know, the mom that's just at home changing diapers and raising kids. Those things are so very important. And so we cannot compare what we do with what someone else does. We have to be careful, and I think that's another reason why, you know, people are so confused about or unsure about the not understanding it's not about what you do, and it's not the the title and the fame that comes from what you do or the impact that you make. Sometimes what you do every single day is it's not the impact is not going to be seen right away.

SPEAKER_06

Right.

SPEAKER_04

But trust, just like you said, if everyone stopped doing it, it would be seen immediately. But we keep going and we keep doing it, understanding that we're doing this as unto God. It's making a positive impact on life, and it is bringing heaven and earth together.

SPEAKER_06

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_04

Everything it's reflecting, it's a reflection, and there. There's beauty and there's order and there's justice and there's love and forgiveness and all of these things working together. We do better together than than self.

SPEAKER_09

Yeah, that's very good.

SPEAKER_02

So man, this is this conversation. Fantastic. A lot of fun. Oh my goodness. So, you know, as

Love Letter Challenge on Purpose!

SPEAKER_02

we're just kind of bringing things to a close, are are there any final thoughts? You know, every every time we wrap up, we we challenge our listeners to live out your love letters. So is is there anything that you want to share as as we wrap up today?

SPEAKER_09

I would say though, if if you are looking for your individual calling, you know, I I had somebody, again, prayer time, somebody comes up to me and says, you know, they have a prayer request for something. I remember not that long ago, somebody came up and said, you know, I feel like I'm called to teach the Bible, I want to pray about that. And I've had over the years, many people come up to me, Eric, I feel like I'm called to the ministry, I'm called to preach or teach. And in situations like this, here's what I find. I'll say, Great, why don't you start a small home Bible study? And all of a sudden they get sad. It's almost like they want to know the secret to preaching to a lot of people. Like, how how do I get a big ministry? You know, I don't want to hear. I'm thinking to myself, I when I first started teaching, I started teaching to eight people, and it grew over time, but I taught for seven years and stuff. I I wasn't I wasn't on staff anywhere being paid for it. That came later. So I would just say this if you're looking at like, okay, you know, what am I supposed to do with my life? I'd say, one, let me back up. This is what I would say. If you want to know what your purpose is, I would encourage you to take a minute and ask yourself, why is it so important that you know? What's your motive behind it? If you're unhappy and you're looking and you think your purpose is going to make you happy, I can say I I love teaching. It's a dream. But I can't say I'm happier as a person because of it. I am fulfilled, no doubt. I can't say I'm happy. And here's my concern. I think sometimes people think if I could just do this, I'll get rid of that nagging unhappiness inside of me. Probably not, dear friends. But what will is if you change your thinking and find meaning in everything you do instead of in a career or in a ministry or something like that. But one thing that will do it is if you feel like you're called to the ministry or feel like you're called to teach, are you willing to teach a small Bible study forever and not get paid for it? Then you're gonna find out if you love the word. You're gonna find out if you love teaching it real quick. Yeah, for sure. Because a lot of times, you know, I think about somebody who called me, a gentleman who called me several months ago, and he wanted to be a Bible teacher and he was gonna apply for this position at a church. Okay. And they basically wanted the secret sauce. Like, what do I say to let them know I'm a good teacher? And what do I say? And and I when I answered their question, which is basically, you know, what what do I say? I said, uh, well, tell me about the pastor. And she's like, Well, what do you mean? I said, Well, if you're gonna work for a church, you have a senior pastor, and the pastor has a vision from God. Does your teaching support his vision? Because that's what you're signing up for, right? And so a lot of it is the motivation behind it. Are you why do you want this calling? Or why are you looking for some meaning out of it? And if you are, can you find meaning in it if you never get paid? Are you willing to come underneath and serve somebody else in your calling? So there's a lot going on there. But I would just say this your job in everything is to make heaven and earth come together. If you're looking for your particular calling and worried and wondering what it is, ask yourself why. Are you do you think you're gonna find more self-worth? Maybe more happiness in it. You might be surprised that doesn't happen that way. And are you willing to start small? Yeah. You start with the Bible study. Are you willing to start small and have it be small forever?

SPEAKER_06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_09

Because you love it so much. That's right. So a lot of it is looking at your own motivations and motives. Oh that would be like a whole nother teaching, a whole nother discussion.

unknown

I love it.

SPEAKER_02

I love it. Well, you know, we've got an amazing resource for you as it relates to purpose. So what Raz, I want you to talk about this resource that's gonna no, really. I I mean, every we all need tools to help us as we go through our different journeys. And so we're talking about purpose, and there's there's that journey. I mean, Eric has done a phenomenal job of giving us this insight, and I am so grateful for it. And Ross has developed, she's put together this resource that I think is gonna be another huge value add to us. So, Rod, you want to talk about that?

SPEAKER_04

Yes, yes. So I wrote a book called Think Inside the Box, and this book is pretty much about you understanding everything that you need to do, everything that you're called to do. You're already equipped with it. You know, we are we have treasure in our earthen vessels, there the Holy Spirit dwells within us, and so we have abilities, unique skills, unique talents that need to be shared with the world. So we can't we can't worry about comparing ourselves with other people. We all have our own unique gifts and talents and abilities. So this book is about helping you discover that. Now, I use Bible characters or people that you know lived ordinary lives back in the Bible days, but because they understood their purpose and the things that they were doing, each, you know, the things that God led them to do, they ended up doing extraordinary things. It made an extraordinary impact. So you hear about people like Abraham, God put something in his hearing, you hear something about Moses, God put something in his hand. You'll hear about this woman who was a widow and she was in debt, and she had one little flask of oil in her home. But all of those things God used to help them do extraordinary things for others. So this book just basically talks about that. And some of you may already have the book, but if you go on amazon.com, you'll find Think Inside the Box.

SPEAKER_02

And uh or you can visit roshamilton.com and pick the book up. I read it twice. You get the forward for me, so but I read the whole book, and it will definitely bless your life. So, one more thing, like always, we want to encourage you to like, share, and subscribe. When you do that, that helps us to continue to develop good content that's gonna be a blessing to you and those that you're in relationship with. So, Eric, we really appreciate you being on the podcast today. Thank you for having me. Absolutely. Do you mind praying us out on today?

SPEAKER_09

Oh, absolutely. Let's do it. All right, Father, we just thank you so much for this opportunity to share. And Lord, we are honored to be humans in your world. And we pray that you would continue to reveal to us what that calling is for all of us and for our individual callings. And I just thank you, Lord, that you are faithful to do it. In Jesus' name, amen.

SPEAKER_02

Amen. Man, thank you. Thank you for joining us, and we'll see you next time on Love Letters with Jason and Roz. All right.

SPEAKER_04

Bye for now.