Therefore put on God’s complete armor, that you may be able to resist and stand your ground on the evil day [of danger], and, having done all [the crisis demands], to stand [firmly in your place].
Ephesians 6:13 (AMPC)
Living “on purpose” for a purpose is an exciting and rewarding way to live. The “on-purpose” life we want to live is one that is in accord with God’s purpose for us and His Kingdom. Although Jesus has provided a wonderful life for us, we must realize that Satan relentlessly tries to steal it. For this reason we must not be passive and assume the good life will be ours without a fight. Satan is our enemy, and he works relentlessly to steal the life that Jesus died to give us. We will have victory only if we stand firmly against him and all of his ways.
We can choose to live “on purpose” rather than by emotion! In this chapter I want to look at just a few of the ways we can do things on purpose and how they can make such a huge difference in our lives.
We can make a daily decision to stand firmly in our God-ordained destiny and not allow the world, the devil, or the desires of the flesh to steal it from us. This requires using your free will to choose God’s will in each situation you encounter in life.
Last evening, Dave and I had a mildly heated disagreement, and the end result was that I did not get my way. I wasn’t happy about it, and the more I thought about it, the more I could feel anger settling into my soul. At that point I could not just do what I felt like doing because I knew if I did I would certainly not behave in a godly way. I had only two choices: (1) stay angry and make myself more miserable, or (2) forgive Dave and refuse to be in strife.
I wanted to do the right thing, the thing that would please God, and I certainly couldn’t go with how I felt and accomplish that in this situation. I purposely decided not to follow my emotions, but to trust God and let the situation go. I asked God to help me, and I began thinking about scriptures about forgiving others when they hurt us (see Matthew 6:9–15) and those that talk about the responsibility of the children of God to avoid strife (see II Timothy 2:24).
You might say I talked myself off the ledge. I was about to jump right into a full-blown session of anger and bitterness, but instead, I purposely chose peace.
God’s Word tells us to “put on” our shoes of peace (see Ephesians 6:13–15). In other words, we are instructed to walk in peace. Jesus said that He has given us His peace and that we can stop allowing ourselves to be upset, disturbed, fearful, and intimidated (see John 14:27). If we consider these two Scripture verses and decide to believe them, then we must admit that we have peace available to us, but we may not understand that we can be peaceful on purpose.
For many years I was deceived and thought that if my circumstances didn’t calm down I couldn’t calm down. By thinking in this way I was literally giving the devil control over my behavior. If he set me up to get upset by arranging for circumstances that were unpleasant for me, then I had an anxious and frustrating day. We need to know what our “peace-stealers” are and watch out for them.
Have you ever said, “My kids know what buttons to push to get me upset”? Even more important is to realize that the devil knows what buttons to push to get us upset. We all have different triggers, and it is time that we recognize them in order to stand firm and take charge of our lives. This is how we start living the life we really want on purpose.
Peace won’t just happen! We have the task of being makers and maintainers of peace (see Matthew 5:9). The peace of God is in us as His gift to us, and we can learn to access it and hold on to it in the storms of life. God told the Israelites to hold their peace and He would fight for them (see Exodus 14:14). They obviously could remain peaceful, otherwise God would not have instructed them to do so. I firmly believe that we are capable of much more than we believe we are.
We are capable of much more than we believe we are.
We have spent far too long asking God to do things for us that in reality He has already done and is waiting for us to claim by faith. But, practically speaking, how do we do that?
I practice talking to myself in tense situations. When I feel my peace leaving and stress coming, I remind myself that I can hold my peace by trusting God to take care of the situation. If I remain peaceful, He will fight for me. I breathe and think before speaking, and sometimes I even have to get away from the situation in order to give me time to minister to myself. Yes, you can minister to yourself. Remind yourself of the promises of God and meditate on some of the Scripture verses you have learned about being peaceful in the difficult times of life.
I remember a time during income-tax season that was challenging for me. We always have to pay, so I asked our accountant if she had an estimate of what we would owe. When she told me, I felt panic rising in me because what we had set aside to pay for taxes was extremely short of the figure she gave me. I could not believe we had estimated that far off, and neither could she. I was feeling more upset by the minute and was trying to talk to myself at the same time. “Joyce, stay calm. You need to investigate before you panic.” After some looking at bank accounts and checking deposits and withdrawals, sure enough I did find the money. I had put it into an interest-bearing account to wait until I needed it and had forgotten I put it there. Boy, was I glad to find that mistake!
My point is that when we get unpleasant news, or a bad report of any kind, our first natural response is to get upset, even though that will do nothing to help the situation. Resisting the devil at his onset is what the apostle Peter tells us to do (see I Peter 5:9). We can stop ourselves from getting more and more upset (see John 14:27) if we will make the effort to do so. Talk to yourself and remind yourself that God is faithful, and there is always an answer to every dilemma.
We cannot hear from God or be led by His Spirit when we are disquieted. Peace has been defined as a “quiet heart.” We need to have calm souls in order to discern what He would have us do in difficulty. Don’t keep repeating the same old pattern over and over, having a circumstance you don’t like, getting upset, saying things you shouldn’t say, doing things you shouldn’t do, repenting, and then doing it all again. It is time for something new! It is time to be peaceful on purpose!
God’s Word teaches us to “put on” righteousness (see Ephesians 6:14). Sometimes we have an identity crisis and, although we are new creatures in Christ through the New Birth (salvation) and have been made right with God, we can let the devil steal the knowledge of our right standing and value with God. Identity theft is a big business today, and many of us purchase fraud or identity theft insurance so we are covered in case someone hacks into our personal information and steals our identity. It has never happened to me, but I have heard that when it does, it is a real nightmare.
I think it is safe to say that Christians who do not remember who they are in Christ, that God loves them unconditionally, that He views them as being right with Him, will live miserable lives even though they don’t have to. Satan fights against us, but we have instruction from God on how to defeat him and remain the victor at all times. But it requires doing some things on purpose! One of those things is to put on righteousness. “Put on” is an action phrase. It requires us to do something.
Let me make it as simple as I can: when we sin, we are often tormented with guilt and condemnation. We may even believe that God is angry with us and that we have to do something to get back in favor with Him. That is not the truth, but it is what the devil wants us to believe. God’s favor is a free gift, otherwise it wouldn’t be favor. It is ours through faith. When we sin, we can repent and continue to believe that although we did something that wasn’t right, we never for even a moment lost our right standing with God. We stay covered with righteousness and wear it like a robe!
We see the phrase “put on” several times in the Bible and I have come to understand that it simply means “Do this on purpose.” Don’t wait to feel like it or expect someone else to do for us what we should do ourselves. Rather than being passive, seize or take control of the situation, your thoughts and attitudes, and line them up with God’s promises.
You are a beloved child of God, the apple of His eye, and He is with you at all times. Don’t let the devil steal your true identity. Know who you are, hold your head up confidently, and enjoy the life that Jesus has provided for you. Do it on purpose!
Know who you are, hold your head up confidently, and enjoy the life that Jesus has provided for you.
We are taught in God’s Word to put on love above all that we put on (see Colossians 3:14). That literally means that the most important thing we can do is to walk in love. Love is not a feeling we wait to have, it is a decision we make about how we will treat people—all people! We don’t get to treat people who are good to us one way and then mistreat the ones who are rude and unkind to us. Like God, we should be the same all the time no matter what is happening around us.
Yes, I know that is a tall order, but we will never do anything God asks us to do if we keep telling ourselves how hard it is to do it. We can choose to believe that God will enable us to do anything He asks us to do.
Walking in love will require being generous in forgiveness, because the truth is we live in a world filled with imperfection. People hurt us, they may treat us unjustly, or be unloving to us, but God has given us a simple solution to not allowing the poison of bitterness into our souls. Jesus told us not only to forgive our enemies, but to be kind and good to them!
But I say to you who are listening now to Me: [in order to heed, make it a practice to] love your enemies, treat well (do good to, act nobly toward) those who detest you and pursue you with hatred,
Invoke blessings upon and pray for the happiness of those who curse you, implore God’s blessing (favor) upon those who abuse you [who revile, reproach, disparage, and high-handedly misuse you].
Luke 6:27–28 (AMPC)
We are told to forgive not for the other person’s benefit, but for our own. When we forgive, we do ourselves a kindness and a favor because we are set free from the torment of needing to hate someone and wasting our lives being vengeful. We look at forgiveness from the wrong point of view. We think, They don’t deserve my forgiveness after what they did to me, and I am going to get them back and make them pay. But it simply doesn’t work. Often, the people we are angry with are enjoying their lives and don’t know or care that we are upset!
We obviously cannot do what Jesus is suggesting in these scriptures unless we make a decision and do it on purpose. We will never feel like blessing someone who has been unkind or has treated us unfairly. But the good news of this book is that we don’t have to feel like doing what is right in order to do it. People who forgive are strong people!
We don’t have to feel like doing what is right in order to do it.
The first to apologize is the bravest.
The first to forgive is the strongest.
And the first to forget is the happiest.
Learning this truth about forgiving on purpose was life-changing for me. Being sexually abused by my father and abandoned to the situation by my mother left me with many ill feelings that filled me with bitterness and unhappiness. If you are unhappy, look for the root of the problem, because the unhappiness won’t go away until the root is dealt with. We usually believe our unhappiness is caused by someone (or something) else, but it is usually our own attitude toward others and our circumstances that are the real culprits.
Forgiving people may not change the way you feel about them right away, but praying for them and being kind to them when possible will set you free, and eventually your feelings will heal. Jesus is our healer, but our obedience is what releases the healing that He has provided through His death and resurrection. Jesus came to show us a new way to live! Our instruction from God’s Word is to “put off the old man and put on the new man” (see Ephesians 4:22–24). That simply means that we need to make a decision to live the new life that Jesus has provided, for it is the only thing that will bring the peace and joy we all desire.
Jesus did not come to do everything for us while we sit by passively doing nothing. He came to show us what to do and to empower us to do it. You can forgive! If it were impossible, then God would not have instructed you to do it.
Love requires forgiveness, and it also requires many other behaviors that may need to be practiced on purpose. Love is patient, kind, humble, meek, not jealous or envious, always believes the best, and never gives up (see I Corinthians 13:4–8). Wow! I know I have to ask God for help daily in order to manifest this kind of good fruit in my life, and you will need His help also. I highly recommend spending time with God in fellowship and in studying His Word, because the closer you are to Him the more you will become like Him. Our love for God causes us to want to do everything that He asks us to do.
Love also gives. When love sees a need, it is compelled to do something. Love must be active in order to stay alive. It flows into us from God, and must flow out of us toward others. A stream must be moving in order not to stagnate, and we are the same way. Just knowing the right thing to do isn’t good enough—we must do it!
God’s Word tells us to lift up the shield of faith and with it we can quench all the fiery darts of the enemy, and to cover everything with prayer (see Ephesians 6:16,18). As we go through life, we find that the devil is good at throwing spears and fiery darts. Our position is to remain in faith and pray about everything that threatens or troubles us. I love what Paul wrote to the Philippians:
Do not fret or have any anxiety about anything, but in every circumstance and in everything, by prayer and petition (definite requests), with thanksgiving, continue to make your wants known to God.
Philippians 4:6 (AMPC)
I meditate on this scripture often in life. We can learn to meet every crisis with faith that is released in prayer. Faith is a powerful force, but it does need to be released to be most effective. We can release it by praying and by saying! I pray for God to take care of the situation, and I say things that agree with what I have prayed. Prayer mixed with worry and a negative conversation doesn’t bring an answer.
Prayer mixed with worry and a negative conversation doesn’t bring an answer.
God’s Word teaches us not to become weary in doing what is right and to be assured that we will reap a good reward in due time (see Galatians 6:9). If we are honest, we will admit that at times we do become weary, and may not feel like doing what is right any longer because we simply don’t seem to be getting right results. But that is precisely when we need to do what is right on purpose even though we don’t feel like doing it.
There are some things we may know we should do because they are the right thing, but we may never want to do them as far as our feelings are concerned. For example, God’s Word states that “if anyone fails to provide for his relatives, and especially for those of his own family, he has disowned the faith [by failing to accompany it with fruits] and is worse than an unbeliever [who performs his obligation in these matters]” (I Timothy 5:8 AMPC).
I had to make a choice to obey this scripture regarding taking care of my father, mother, and an aunt when they were elderly and unable to care for themselves. Because my parents had abused me while I was growing up, I had no fond feelings for them, but I knew it was the right thing for me to do. My aunt had no children to help her, so responsibility also fell to me, and, once again, I knew it was right to provide for her. Providing for their care has required a sacrifice of time and money over the past fifteen years, and, although my parents are deceased, my aunt is still living and needs care.
I don’t do this because I feel like it, because, to be honest, there are times when I don’t, but I know it is the right thing to do and I do it. The greatest hindrance to spiritual maturity is walking according to our emotions instead of purposely choosing to do the right thing. Even though we may not want to do a thing, we can choose to do it just because we love God.
Perhaps you find yourself in a position where you need to forgive someone who has treated you badly, or maybe that person needs your help in some way but you are finding it very difficult to give it. I urge you to do it because of your love for God and because you are committed to doing what is right.
And become useful and helpful and kind to one another, tenderhearted (compassionate, understanding, loving-hearted), forgiving one another [readily and freely], as God in Christ forgave you.
Ephesians 4:32 (AMPC)
Learning to use your free will to choose God’s will is very important, and I think it is safe to say that if a person is willing to do so, he or she will live an extremely enjoyable and fruitful life.
Perhaps some of your purposes have been out of order, but it’s not too late to make a change. Today you can decide that from now on you want to please God more than you want anything else in life and that you are going to do so “on purpose.” Being an “on-purpose” person starts with a decision. That decision needs to be followed up with a lot of prayer, leaning on God, and trusting Him to enable you to follow through. Let’s join together and be the best we can be for Jesus!
As we purpose to do the will of God in these five areas as well as others, we will enjoy life more because we will have the joy of knowing we are living for a purpose. Nobody wants to wake up each day and feel that he or she has no purpose in life. We need purpose to motivate us. We need something to be enthusiastic about! I am excited about living to do the will of God. I find it challenging and energizing.
• Living “on purpose” for a purpose is an exciting and rewarding way to live.
• You can learn to access the peace of God and hold on to it in the storms of life.
• You are a beloved child of God, the apple of His eye, and He is with you at all times.
• The most important thing you can do is to walk in love.
• Jesus came to show us what to do and to empower us to do it.
• You can meet any crisis with the faith that is released in prayer.
• The greatest hindrance to spiritual maturity is walking according to our emotions instead of purposely choosing to do the right thing.