Earlier this month we delved into the topic of purpose and why it shouldn’t be your occupation. After reading my latest LinkedIn article, you may be wondering what your purpose should be if not your occupation? Purpose is a question all of us struggle with at some point in our lives and that was certainly true for me.

I had searched for my purpose for more years than I care to count but no matter what I did or tried to do in discovering my purpose, I always felt empty. 

My life changed forever when I realized that my purpose wasn’t my job or a career. In fact, I realized that the way I’d been going about discovering my purpose was entirely backward.

You may be familiar with the saying, “You know your why when it makes you cry”. During my “purpose quest” all those years, I tried everything I could to discover my “why” and no matter what I thought my “why” was, not one of my “whys” made me cry. 

The lack of finding my true purpose and falling short left me feeling lost, empty, and alone. I felt like a failure, and it kept me searching for my why.

One day in November 2013, I fell on my knees and begged God to help me (you can read my story here). The journey He had in mind unfolded over the next few years. 

In August 2015, a friend invited me to Southeast Christian Church’s Blankenbaker Campus. In 2017, I met my husband there. God had heard my cry, brought me to where He meant for me to be, and He has been with me ever since.

Meeting my husband (his story here) was the beginning of a journey that would show me my PURPOSE. 

I had always thought that my purpose was my job but I found that was not true, for many reasons. Shifting your focus from occupation as purpose is a real eye-opening experience. 

Once I understood my true PURPOSE, God began changing my life and changing me in ways I could never do on my own. I have felt full and never empty ever since.

And this is what we teach the men we disciple inside and outside the prison system. It’s not a job, or a career, that defines you. It’s God’s purpose for your life… and that made me cry!

So, you may be wondering, what is your purpose? 

Our purpose is to worship God and to glorify Him. Simple. But not easy nor without challenge. 

Worshiping and glorifying Him means setting aside your earthly ambitions for His Kingdom activities. It means building a relationship with Him. It means trusting Him with your life and doing what He calls you to do (or not to do). 

And helping teach and guide the men we are discipling as to what their purpose is and what that purpose acts like in their daily lives is what we are committed to do.

The men who are stepping into the 3Thirds Discipleship program are ones who are putting in the work building a relationship with GOD inside the physical prison they find themselves in because they’ve been freed from the spiritual prison we are all born into! 

They, in turn, are sharing the gospel with other men that are incarcerated with so they may know and accept the gift of salvation.

FREE people point people to the ONE who set them FREE!! And these men GET IT! We want to keep them focused on God’s purpose for their lives, and that includes when they walk out the prison doors.

You have no idea how important it is for these men to have the exact same purpose as we do and as every Christian does: To know, love, and serve Jesus, to share the gospel with others, and to make disciples. This is another aspect of worshiping and glorifying God.

What is true for all of us is that no matter where you are and what you do for work, the purpose for us all is the same! 

Remember, Paul was a tent-maker. 

Paul was also physically imprisoned, and although the reasons for their imprisonment are different, his circumstances did not deter him from his purpose. 

Even though these men are incarcerated, they are still spreading the gospel inside the walls they find themselves in, right here and right now! 

We share with these incarcerated men that we are there to tell them about Jesus. But that is not our only purpose in God’s plan for our ministry inside the institution. 

We are also there to make disciples of these men so that they can go where they are and make disciples themselves. They don’t need to wait until they are freed men to be able to share the gospel and to see the men around them be saved. 

The population of saved men inside the institution is growing because they are being shown that what they’ve been seeking all of their lives – through destructive, unhealthy ways – is possible and everlasting through Jesus by sharing their testimony and the good news of the gospel.

We remind the men we disciple and mentor that we – and they – act only as the hands and feet of Jesus but we save NO ONE. Only Jesus can do that. 

The Holy Spirit equips them to do this and their presence at our Fellowship and Discipleship Nights inside the institution and at church on Sundays is proof the Holy Spirit is working with every man each week.  

We want to FAN THE FLAMES of these men who are on FIRE for the Lord and are boldly stepping into their PURPOSE.

We also want to fan the flames within you so that you can live out your true purpose of worshiping and glorifying God. We would be delighted to help you with living out your purpose. Click here and let us know how we can help you.