Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

A Time magazine cover article named Rick Warren the most influential spiritual leader in America and one of the 100 most influential people in the world.

Tens of millions of copies of Pastor Rick’s books have been published in 200 languages. His best-known books, The Purpose Driven Life and The Purpose Driven Church, were named three times in national surveys of pastors (by Gallup, Barna, and Lifeway) as the two most helpful books in print.

Rick and his wife, Kay, founded Saddleback Church, the Purpose Driven Network, the PEACE Plan, and Hope for Mental Health. He is the cofounder of Celebrate Recovery with John Baker.

Pastor Rick has spoken in 165 nations. He has spoken at the United Nations, US Congress, numerous parliaments, the World Economic Forum, TED, Aspen Institute, and lectured at Oxford, Cambridge, Harvard, and other universities.

Rick is executive director of Finishing the Task, a global movement of denominations, organizations, churches, and individuals working together on the Great Commission goals of ensuring that everyone everywhere has access to a Bible, a believer, and a local body of Christ.

Auszug. © Genehmigter Nachdruck. Alle Rechte vorbehalten.

The Purpose Driven Life

Zondervan

Contents

A Journey with Purpose.................................................11A New Edition for a New Generation.....................................17My Covenant............................................................19DAY 1 It All Starts with God...........................................23DAY 2 You Are Not an Accident..........................................30DAY 3 What Drives Your Life?...........................................36DAY 4 Made to Last Forever.............................................47DAY 5 Seeing Life from God's View......................................54DAY 6 Life Is a Temporary Assignment...................................63DAY 7 The Reason for Everything........................................70DAY 8 Planned for God's Pleasure.......................................81DAY 9 What Makes God Smile?............................................88DAY 10 The Heart of Worship............................................99DAY 11 Becoming Best Friends with God..................................110DAY 12 Developing Your Friendship with God.............................120DAY 13 Worship That Pleases God........................................130DAY 14 When God Seems Distant..........................................140DAY 15 Formed for God's Family.........................................151DAY 16 What Matters Most...............................................158DAY 17 A Place to Belong...............................................166DAY 18 Experiencing Life Together......................................177DAY 19 Cultivating Community...........................................186DAY 20 Restoring Broken Fellowship.....................................196DAY 21 Protecting Your Church..........................................206DAY 22 Created to Become Like Christ...................................219DAY 23 How We Grow.....................................................229DAY 24 Transformed by Truth............................................236DAY 25 Transformed by Trouble..........................................247DAY 26 Growing through Temptation......................................257DAY 27 Defeating Temptation............................................268DAY 28 It Takes Time...................................................278DAY 29 Accepting Your Assignment.......................................289DAY 30 Shaped for Serving God..........................................299DAY 31 Understanding Your Shape........................................307DAY 32 Using What God Gave You.........................................318DAY 33 How Real Servants Act...........................................328DAY 34 Thinking Like a Servant.........................................339DAY 35 God's Power in Your Weakness....................................348DAY 36 Made for a Mission..............................................359DAY 37 Sharing Your Life Message.......................................370DAY 38 Becoming a World-Class Christian................................380DAY 39 Balancing Your Life.............................................391DAY 40 Living with Purpose.............................................400DAY 41 The Envy Trap...................................................411DAY 42 The People-Pleaser Trap.........................................423APPENDIX 1 Discussion Questions........................................439APPENDIX 2 Resources...................................................445APPENDIX 3 Why Use So Many Translations?...............................449Notes..................................................................453

Chapter One

It All Starts with God

For everything, absolutely everything, above and below, visible and invisible, ... everything got started in him and finds its purpose in him. COLOSSIANS 1:16 (MSG)

Unless you assume a God, the question of life's purpose is meaningless. BERTRAND RUSSELL, ATHEIST

It's not about you.

The purpose of your life is far greater than your own personal fulfillment, your peace of mind, or even your happiness. It's far greater than your family, your career, or even your wildest dreams and ambitions. If you want to know why you were placed on this planet, you must begin with God. You were born by his purpose and for his purpose.

The search for the purpose of life has puzzled people for thousands of years. That's because we typically begin at the wrong starting point — ourselves. We ask self-centered questions like What do I want to be? What should I do with my life? What are my goals, my ambitions, my dreams for my future? But focusing on ourselves will never reveal our life's purpose. The Bible says, "It is God who directs the lives of his creatures; everyone's life is in his power."

Contrary to what many popular books, movies, and seminars tell you, you won't discover your life's meaning by looking within yourself. You have probably tried that already. You didn't create yourself, so there is no way you can tell yourself what you were created for! If I handed you an invention you had never seen before, you wouldn't know its purpose, and the invention itself wouldn't be able to tell you either. Only the creator or the owner's manual could reveal its purpose.

I once got lost in the mountains. When I stopped to ask for directions to the campsite, I was told, "You can't get there from here. You must start from the other side of the mountain!" In the same way, you cannot arrive at your life's purpose by starting with a focus on yourself. You must begin with God, your Creator. You exist only because God wills that you exist. You were made by God and for God — and until you understand that, life will never make sense. It is only in God that we discover our origin, our identity, our meaning, our purpose, our significance, and our destiny. Every other path leads to a dead end.

Many people try to use God for their own self-actualization, but that is a reversal of nature and is doomed to failure. You were made for God, not vice versa, and life is about letting God use you for his purposes, not your using him for your own purpose. The Bible says, "Obsession with self in these matters is a dead end; attention to God leads us out into the open, into a spacious, free life."

I have read many books that suggest ways to discover the purpose of my life. All of them could be classified as "self-help" books because they approach the subject from a self-centered viewpoint. Self-help books, even Christian ones, usually offer the same predictable steps to finding your life's purpose: Consider your dreams. Clarify your values. Set some goals. Figure out what you are good at. Aim high. Go for it! Be disciplined. Believe you can achieve your goals. Involve others. Never give up.

Of course, these recommendations often lead to great success. You can usually succeed in reaching a goal if you put your mind to it. But being successful and fulfilling your life's purpose are not at all the same issue! You could reach all your personal goals, becoming a raving success by the world's standard, and still miss the purposes for which God created you. You need more than self-help advice. The Bible says, "Self-help is no help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way, my way, to finding yourself, your true self."

This is not a self-help...