Purpose Matters

“Purpose matters.”

That’s something I told my kids when I was trying to wash dishes this evening and they were generating a cacophony of sound in the living room: Emmy singing random lyrics louder and louder as Lukas (who claims to hate singing) admonished her to quit and retaliatied by projecting a loud angry rendition of the Batman theme designed solely to drown her out. I tried to talk them gently into getting along, but when I would answer his infuriated, “Emmy!” with “Lukas!” he would point the verbal finger at her. I told him she was singing because she likes to sing, not expressly to bug him, but that he was doing the Batman theme in that deliberately obnoxious tone to irritate her, and that there is a difference in what they were doing, even though both of them were being musically loud. The reason you do something counts.

Purpose matters.

I read a verse in the Bible to these babies just last night that reminds me of this. It is Proverbs 16:2, and the Easy-to-Read version that comprises their Children’s Bible says this: “People think that whatever they do is right, but the Lord judges their reason for doing it.”

I have always said that there are things people do that, to me, what makes them wrong or right is the purpose behind the action, not necessarily the action itself.

(For example: getting tattoos. There are some who believe that tattoos are sinful, and in my opinion, if they are convicted about it, then they should not get one. But to me, it is all about intent. I think that getting tattoos alone is not the sin, but the reason for getting them matters. If one gets a tattoo as an act of rebellion against one’s parents, for example,that is where the “wrongness” would enter in, in my opinion. I have three tattoos myself and I didn’t get them in rebellion or to worship idols; I’ve been a Christian practically my whole life and I didn’t feel convicted about getting them. I do think there are some things that are sin across the board, but God is the judge, not me.)

ANYWAY…

Reasons for actions do not always deal with sin. Sometimes people do things that are GOOD, yet God knows the heart and knows the purpose for these things as well. Some are done with genuinely good intentions; the reason or purpose is to help others, to spread love and joy, to make someone else feel better, which feels good to yourself in the process. But some good things might transpire with an ulterior motive on the inside, whether to impress someone else or just make yourself look good. I think that doing good can yield good regardless, but the purpose for doing good, really for doing anything, is something we should consider in our hearts:

Why do we do the things we do, or why don’t we? Why do we say the things we say, or why don’t we say some things sometimes? And beyond reasons for my actions or lack thereof, what is MY purpose? That matters, too.

I was trying to make my kids behave today, but telling them that purpose matters has left a little pondering in my own heart, a little reminder like the Word last night that purpose matters. I want to do everything in my life as unto God’s glory. I want to be able to take care of my family, especially my children. I want to be a light and witness to the world that spreads joy, positivity, the value of forgiveness, and most of all LOVE. These are things that matter to me. Beyond the reasons for my actions, I want my own purpose to matter. God knows my reasons for doing what I do, and He also knows my purpose, and I pray that He will help me to understand both and let them be good ones. Amen.