By Rachel Stewart 

  

  
I was listening to a sermon by Rick Warren and he said that we all want our lives to count for something. We want our lives to have significance and meaning. 

We spend so much time and effort on WHAT we want to do with our lives. 

But God is more interested in WHO we become rather than WHAT we do. 

William James said, “The great use of life is to spend it for something that will outlast it.”

 All of our trophies and accolades will eventually be forgotten and thrown in the trash. 

Only two things will last forever. 

Truth and people.

 The truth of God’s Word lasts forever. People will live forever in eternity. 

We all want our lives to be “worth” something. We want our lives to have purpose and meaning. Rick Warren says that death is not the worst thing that can happen to us. He says the worst thing that could happen to us is to miss out on God’s purpose for our lives. 

One way we can find our true purpose and meaning is by realizing that life isn’t about US! 

Everything in society tells us that life is all about us. We look for satisfaction and joy in all the wrong places; money, materialism, sex, power, prestige, popularity, position. We are told that all those things supposedly equal success. 

But true joy comes from service–giving our lives away.

  Rick says that the secret to lasting satisfaction and joy is getting the focus off of ourselves and shifting our focus on to others.

 The most miserable people are the most self-centered people. 

Last week I saw evidence of true joy in my dear friend and coworker, Stacey. She had a tough day and at the end of the day I went into her classroom to check on her. She was sending n encouraging email to a friend who was discouraged. I asked her how she was doing and she said that she was doing better. She shared that when she starts to get down-and-out, she has learned that the best way to overcome is to get the focus off of herself and pour love and encouragement into someone else. Wow! What wisdom! She’s discovered the secret to lasting joy! 

Want true satisfaction and joy? Maybe we just need to shift our focus. 

Truth and others. 

Those are things worth investing in–and the secret to lasting joy.