This is Our Purpose in Life

What is the purpose of human life? Why did God create you and me?

In our attempt to understand the principles upon which the Christian life and Christian leadership are built, we should begin by asking one of the most fundamental questions of human life.

The question is why, in the first place, did God create human beings? What is the purpose of human life? Why did God create you and me?

The answer to this question will help those in positions of leadership to understand their own purpose on earth and the purpose of the lives of the people they lead, because the answer to the question constitutes one of the fundamental pillars of the Christian life.

Knowledge of the purpose of human life helps those who are given responsibility over others to lead their followers in the right direction—in line with the purpose for which they were created.

Now, what is that purpose?

The ultimate purpose of our lives is for us to be with God, to see him face to face, and to live with him forever.

In order for us to reach the ultimate goal of human life, there is a journey that we must walk here on earth. With the fall of Adam and Eve, we were separated from God; we wandered away from our home like children lost in a forest who cannot find their way back home. What God has been doing throughout human history since the Fall is to draw all human beings to himself; to help them to seek him and get to know him and to find the way to our heavenly home.

This is why God ultimately sent his only Son to Planet Earth. Jesus was here to lead us back to the Father; to help us see and follow the way to our lost home. This is why he said: “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (Jn 14:6).

If the ultimate goal of human life is heaven, the purpose of human life on earth is to know and seek God so as to find the way to heaven.

Talking about how God draws human beings to himself throughout history, the Catechism of the Catholic Church says in its prologue: “He calls man to seek him, to know him, to love him with all his strength.”

The call to seek, know and love God is not only preserved for us who have been blessed with faith and knowledge of the Gospel message of Jesus Christ. God calls all people to seek him, know him and love him.

But we know that at present only a fraction of the population of the world—about a third—has found  Christ, the way to the Father. What this means is that it is not enough for the followers of Christ to shout with joy: “I am saved!” All baptised Christians have a job to do in order for the whole world to know Jesus. As he himself said: “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few” (Lk 10:2).

Bishop, priest, pastor, religious sister and brother, and lay Christian—all should be busy fishing for lost souls and seeking to bring everybody to the knowledge and love of God.

The lay Christian may ask: How can I seek to bring people to God when I am not called to serve in the Church? The answer is that we preach the Gospel, not necessarily by preaching sermons in church.

Each one of us has been called to preach the Gospel according to the profession and role that God has given us—as a teacher, a nurse, a mechanic, a cook, a parent, a singer—whatever profession, role and talent we have been given is meant to be converted into a sermon for the glorification of God.

In Chapter 2 of his First Letter, Peter says to us: “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession.” As such, he goes on to say: “Live such good lives among the pagans that…they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.”

So, follower of Christ, examine your life and see how God has called you to help others to seek him, know him and love him.