Key Points on Knowing My Purpose

Last March 28, my Alma Mater, Christ the King School of Cabuyao, gave me a very important opportunity to inspire young people on their 19th Completion Ceremony for Junior High School. I am very inspired to share the whole concept of my message that day.

To begin with, I just wanna ask you a very important, yet least thought question among young people and might as well among young adults and even among young and new professionals today:

When we have a year put into close, whether it is school year or our annual business period or a normal year, most of the time, we often reflect on what really happened on the previous year, correct? Whether it is an accomplishments or failures. One way to reflect is having reports. As the school year ends, teachers comes up with report cards.

In the business world, we have the so-called annual financial statements. Whether it would be in different forms, the bottom line is, we always reflect on our results. Many of us were caught in the stigma that the better the results, the better you are- that as if results measures the kind of person you are, or the person you will going to be. At this point, I want to leave you first a very important question: Who among you today ask his or herself, WHERE WILL I GO FROM HERE?

Who among you ask that same question? That in spite of the diploma or medals, how will you move forward from here and where will you go?

This brings us to the highlight of my message .  I want to entitled my message “How will I know my purpose.”

I intend not to sound religious or spiritual here, but nevertheless, I want all of us , no exemptions, to hear what the Word of the Lord has to say about knowing our purpose in life.

I remember, when I first graduated from college, May of 2017, I find myself asking the question: What’s Next?

Who among you today find theirselves on the same hot seat? Are we hearing the same bell that is ringing? Are we hearing voices of parents and relatives asking us, what’s your plan? Or , this is the thing that you must do? Sounds familiar?

Are we hearing it now?

Well, don’t be afraid, everyone faces the same decision making state. Many calls it “Mid-life crisis” .No matter how much we avoid making decisions in life, once we halt and turn one of our journey into closure, part of going on and moving forward is to decide on what’s going to be next. That my friend, is part of growing up and maturing.

Perhaps, some of you will go to other places or school to continue senior high school. Some of you will face the question, what’s strand I will going to take up that will make one step closer to my choice of course in college.

In this message, I want to introduce to you three characters: one is the sender of the message or the commander, the second is the receiver or the executer of the message or command, and the last one is the recipient or the beneficiary.

The first is God. The Second is Moses. And the Third is Aaron.

In the Book of Exodus Chapter 28 Verse 3, The Speaker is talking. Who is the speaker (Ask the Crowd). Obviously it’s God. He said, “You. “ Who is the you? (ask the crowd) It’s Moses.  God said to Moses, “You shall speak to all the skillful, whom I have filled with the spirit of skill, that they make Aaron’s garments to consecrate him for my priesthood.”

This story is from the Book of Old Testament of the Bible.  Just to have you catch up on what’s going on the story, right after the exodus or the exit of the Israelites from 300 years of exile in Egypt, head by Moses, Israel (the chosen people of God) find themselves in the wilderness. Yahweh God, appoints Aaron and his sons to be priest of Israel. Yahweh, here, is telling Moses that he gave gifts of skills to all the skillful men to be used in making Aaron and his sons’ garments or clothes to wear for the consecration of their priesthood.

My number one key point here can be found on the praise YOU SHALL SPEAK TO ALL THE SKILLFULL.

So point number one is We all have skills.?

Who among you believe that they have talents?!

The truth is whether you acknowledge that you have talent or not, it will still never changes the fact that we do all have talents. In the account of the book of Genesis Chapter 1, God said that all creations are good, and that includes men. We are good in the sight of the Father.

Whether you sing, or dance or act or teach, or whether you are a braniac genius, or a speaker or a writer or a mentor, you have a talent that is innate in you since from the beginning , and my challenge for all of you is to find it – you have to find that something in you that others probably do not have, or even if they do, you have a passion that is so much burning only for that particular area that when you are doing it, you are as if being translated into another dimension, because you are so happy to do it. That is your talent.

Does it make sound? Do you have something in your life that you dream of doing? I don’t know for all of you, but I do believe that many are just confuse because they have so many things that they wanted to do, but if someone would ask me what I like to do, I would say that I want to inspire people with my speech or writings, that’s probably the reason why I am here in front of you today. I don’t know why God put me in the accounting field or whether it is a product of my previous wrong choices in life, but one thing sure, when we are so passionate about something, I believe that we all have to start from there and begin to set a vision for ourselves. It could be short term like which senior high school I am going to enter to. Or long term, who will I be five years, ten years or fifteen years from now.?

My number two key point here is the phrase that God said, WHOM I GAVE THE SPIRIT OF SKILL. The number two key point is this, RECOGNIZE THAT OUR SKILLS CAME FROM GOD. Let us all see why this is so important.

Last March 25, I was able to attend the General assembly of the company I am working in. As being mentioned on my introductory, I am one of the blessed  aspirants to joined the company Table Group Inc., as an inventory associate and be able to work on its subsidiary like The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf Philippines, Taste Matters Inc., Partners Against Pest Inc., Natural Health Inc., and Next Coffee Frontier Inc.,

Table Group or TGI acts as a support center on these various growing group of companies and as partners for the whole organization, each and every person plays a very crucial role. Like in our inventory team, for example, we are only consist of three able individuals who are working hand in hand to play the inventory function among all mentioned businesses.

So what is the significance of this?

One of the point of agenda of the said meeting is this. TGI Support Center will now assumed its new name: TGI Center For Excellence. Why? Because we believe that the whole company serves an excellent God. With that said, the whole organization should also work in excellence. To excel means to find your purpose at work, setting up a vision and go that extra mile or being able to go and do beyond what is required.

This is also same thing in finding our personal significance in life. All the skills that we do have is being supplanted to us by the Most High God. Without Him, nothing was made that has been made.  Nothing is impossible through Him and without Him, we are nothing. So, we must bear in mind that to have reverence for God who gives us all things, we must maximize our potentials by first acknowledging and thanking God for giving us an open door of opportunities, and also by multiplying the life that we have towards other people. This leads us to number 3 – That they make Aaron’s garments to consecrate Him for my priesthood. Number three is TO MULTIPLY OUR LIFE TOWARDS OTHER PEOPLE.

In our passage, God gave all the skillful men in Moses’ time, the very spirit of skill that they do have in order for them to weave a garment for Aaron’s consecration as the high priest of Israel. This is also same thing to each and every one of us. God will never give you things that are not connected to your purpose.

So what is this purpose really about.

Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook, defines purpose as this: Purpose is knowing that you are part of something greater other than yourself, that you are needed and there are so much things for you to work for.

We all do have only one life so we have to multiply that life by simply performing a lucrative service towards others- it could be from putting smile to anyone’s lips, to running a chore for others.

I don’t know for you guys, but I do believe that SUCCESS IS HOW YOU LIVE A MARK TO PEOPLE WHEREVER YOU GO. We will all face death one day, and we all wanted to be remember. Diplomas and medals will all rust and rot through time, but our legacy will be as forever as young and as new for as long as until we can no longer remember. I believe that our ultimate  purpose is to manifest God’s glory through us .

Remember, God will never give you things that are not connected to your purpose. First step, know your skills first. Second, Acknowledge that your skill came from God and  lastly, use that skill towards others.

Its all in the mind setting. We don’t all just live and get by for nothing. We don’t study just to graduate or to have a job. If you do, you will just worn out yourselves on the process, and ending up Being lose in the oblivion or nothingness. I tell you that is so, so lonely .You should know the importance of what you are doing and what is the impact of what you do to other people. If we think that way, it is very , very impossible for us to commit mistakes in life. You have to define to yourself what is your purpose first and these three key points are very helpful in identifying your purpose in life.

As I close, I want to share what the philosopher Lao Tzu has to say about success. He said that “A journey of a thousand miles only begin in one step.” For me, that one step is knowing your purpose first. Purpose helps you set up your own vision in life that probably you are here for a reason. You are studying for a reason that is more than just getting a good job one day, but who would thought that probably 10 years later, the next President or executives is also one that is sitting in this place today. We don’t know, but what I know is, as like what the Bible says, without vision people perish, so with purpose , we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day-by-day.

God bless us all!