Living with Meaning: Discovering Your Purpose as God’s Masterpiece

What does it mean to live authentically as God’s masterpiece? In a world constantly trying to remind us how awful life is, it’s sometimes hard to believe we’re masterpieces. Yet Ephesians 2:10 reminds us: “For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus so that we can do the good things that he had planned for us long ago.”

This truth brings comfort because it reminds us that God is still working in our lives. No matter what ups and downs we face, God has always had a wonderful plan for us that extends beyond our past.

The Three Deepest Human Needs

Just as our cell phones constantly search for a signal, we are constantly searching for three fundamental things:

• Meaning – The sense that we have a reason for being, therefore a reason for living

• Mattering – The feeling that we’re valuable in and to the world we live in

• Mastery – The understanding that we have potential and capacity to become the fullest expression of who we are

 

These deep needs show up as desires in our lives:

• The need for meaning appears as a desire for being

• The need for mattering appears as a desire to belong

• The need for mastery appears as a desire to become

 

Why Do We Search for Meaning?

Ecclesiastes 3:11 explains: “Yet God has made everything beautiful in its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart.”

This is why we look at our accomplishments and think, “Surely there’s more to life than this.” It’s not because we’re dissatisfied with what’s around us, but because we know there’s more in us. God has placed eternity in our hearts – a sense that we’re part of something bigger than our current moment.

The ordinary lives we live are aware that we’re not ordinary. We’re masterpieces, cut from a different pattern, made in God’s image.

Finding Your Meaning

To live with a sense of meaning, you first have to find it. This means seeing the awe in who you are.

As 1 Peter 2:9 says: “You are chosen people, royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, because He has called you out of the darkness and into his wonderful light.”

Beauty is not in the eye of the beholder – it’s in the eye of the Creator. You cannot be what you cannot see. If you cannot see who you are through the Creator’s eyes, you’ll never be who you’re meant to be.

To find your authentic self, remember you are VIP:

• Values – The principles that guide your actions and choices

• Interests – The things that give you energy and passion

• Personality – Your unique design and wiring

• Strengths and Struggles – Your capabilities and challenges that have meaning in your story

 

Freeing Your Meaning

Once you find your meaning, you have to free it by putting awe into who you are. Stop trying to fit in with everybody else. Find your uniqueness and live it in a way that inspires awe.

As Psalm 139:14 says: “Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex. Your workmanship is marvelous, how well I know it.”

Most of us have lived in environments of ignorance that prevented us from discovering who we truly are. Romans 1:20 reminds us that people see God’s invisible qualities through what He has made. The greatest way to show people who God is is to live out who you authentically are.

The Meaning Makers vs. The Meaning Breakers

Five Meaning Makers:

• Knowing who you are (identity)

• Understanding what you can do (efficacy)

• Being part of something bigger (transcendence)

• Seeing how your experiences connect (coherence)

• Holding to your values

 

Five Meaning Breakers:

• Always focusing on what you’re not (comparison)

• Focusing on what you can’t do (perfectionism)

• Dwelling on what you’re not part of (isolation)

• Fixating on what’s been done to you (victimhood)

• Constantly shifting to please others (people-pleasing)

 

Fulfilling Your Meaning

After finding and freeing your meaning, you must fulfill it by putting awe into what you do. Colossians 3 reminds us to “work willingly at whatever you do as though you were working for the Lord rather than people.”

To put more awe into your daily activities:

• Bring more of YOU into what you do – More of your strengths, uniqueness, and personality

• Be more intentional – Set priorities, work with purpose, make good choices

• Build more mission – Do things that are useful and make a positive difference

 

Life Application

This week, consider how you can live more authentically as God’s masterpiece:

• How can you bring more of your authentic self into your daily activities? Whether you’re a teacher, leader, parent, or employee, how can you express your unique strengths and personality?

• In what areas of your life have you been focusing on “meaning breakers” rather than “meaning makers”? How can you shift your focus?

• What one small change can you make this week to put more awe into an ordinary task? Could you bring more intention to your work, more of yourself into your relationships, or more mission into your daily routines?

 

Remember, you’re not here for existence – you’re here for expression. You are here to express the divine image of the Almighty God. Don’t apologize for who you are. Don’t hide your light. Be confident (not arrogant) in the gifts God has given you, and let His awe shine through your authentic life.