For our Lenten reflection, we shall use the work of a friend who permitted me to use his essay on the purpose of life. I hope you will find it insightful.
The purpose of life is not happiness. Rather it is continuously improving oneself to make a life for others more meaningful and to make this world better when you are gone. The purpose of life is not even success, but the reflection of the Compassion of God, who loves us for what we are, regardless of our weaknesses and faults. And since loving in this world is imperfect, it entails sacrifice. So those who love must prepare for terrible hurts.
To assist those who find life difficult, one must develop his own faculties and skills. In this way, one can meet his family’s needs, while enabling him to think of others and engage in activities that free him from the enslavements of purely self-serving pursuits. This is a life-long undertaking, and its object is not to elevate one’s status, rather it is to acquire the capabilities to ease the burdens of others, make them feel what goodness of heart means, and without consciously seeking it, to be an example of a person faithful to God’s call of love.
Most of all, the object of a life-long struggle to improve oneself is to be able to know and serve God as the ultimate source and anchor of a life where enduring pain for the sake of love is common fare (ouch!). But through the pain of loving, we are assured: “Carry one another’s burdens, for in this way you fulfill the law of Christ” (Gal 6:2). “Blessed is he who perseveres; he will receive the crown of glory the Lord has promised to those who love him” (Jas 1:12).
The world and our relationships can only give us temporary happiness, never absolute. But we sometimes feel real happiness when, despite all the difficulties of loving, we experience the joy that Christ has promised to those who persist. Even then it is not a joy that tickles our physical senses, nor meets our emotional needs. Rather, a peace-giving conviction that, although others criticize you for being a fool, persisting in love is the right thing to do.
For those who want to love but are constantly faced with so many obstacles; for those who find loving quite painful and questionable, never cease to give love. Greater love and happiness are waiting for you.
One day it will come, yes, and unspeakable joy will envelop and radiate from every inch of our being! It is a joy far, far above whatever joys we have ever experienced on earth and one that would make our previous sufferings feel like they never happened at all. “For our momentary troubles achieve for us an eternal glory which far outweighs them all!” (2 Cor 4:17).
This is God’s own design and it must never be questioned. But it is consistent with His plans of making the deepest truths well-hidden amidst all the earthly distractions and temptations.
Howsoever, God has designed life — whether it is about you or others, or both — He remains omnipotent, and His ways are vastly different from ours. We should be content with knowing that — as we move on with the temporary struggles of a life burdened by love, it is all for something greater and more rewarding in the end. The happiness and purpose received in this way of life far outweigh the burden temporarily carried.