bythemethod.com blog

Perhaps one of the biggest questions about life that any of us has to answer is the question: “what am I here for?”

This post must involve a bit of a discussion about religion. I hope that isn’t going to put you off because I feel that this is one of the most important questions to answer.

The first point to make is that this is an even harder question to answer if you are an atheist (or even agnostic). I’m not saying this to force my viewpoint on anyone but that you need to admit that if you don’t believe in a creating god (whoever that may be) then it is impossible to answer any questions about what you are here for. The best you can answer this question might be to do the greatest good to the greatest number of people. But you might just as well say that your aim is to make yourself happy. Essentially you will have no set purpose and you simply make up your own idea of what you are here for, but if you are looking for an answer to the question then one doesn’t exist.

Of course if you do have a belief in a god then your purpose will be bound up in what your religion says about your purpose. There will most certainly be an answer to the question. I’m a Christian and so my response for me must come from the message of Jesus Christ. I’m here to worship and serve God.

There is more to it than this because I also have a part to play in God’s plan (you did know that God has a plan didn’t you?) – a part that is unique to me. So I can look at how God made me, what gifts and talents I possess and then work out how God wants me to use them.

The exciting bit is that no matter how insignificant I might feel I know that God wants me. No matter if I feel that I really don’t matter in the eyes of this world – I know that I matter in the eyes of God. I also know that even if things don’t quite work out for me now – this is not the end of everything.

I happen to believe that Jesus gives us the best chance of finding out the answer to the question of “what am I here for?” and if you want to explore this subject in more depth you can take a look at the Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren (official website here) but there are other religions and other options.

Buddhism for instance teaches that this world is full of suffering and life means detaching oneself from this world so you can get away from the suffering. You can find out more here.

Many other religions follow a set of rules to gain entry in heaven so the meaning of life is following those rules (Christianity is not one of these by the way – despite popular belief). You can see a list of the religions and what they see life as at the religion facts site. Although I must warn you that the Christian section is woefully inadequate and the chart, as far as Christianity is concerned, leaves an awful lot of information out. I’d recommend the Purpose Driven Life web site for this information. Or you can find out more about Jesus here.