What is the Meaning of Life?

Have you found anything at all good about life? If you have an answer to this question, then you have some idea of the meaning of life.

I’m so discouraged. Somebody tell me they’ve found something good about life!

Sometimes though, we lose sight of the good because of the pain that is screaming in our face. That’s when we have to look deeper. When life hasn’t been easy, we must look beyond this life.

For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. Philippians 1:21

Paul is saying that Christ is everything no matter if he’s alive or dead.

I’ve got good news and bad news. The good news is that God made a lot of good things about life we can enjoy. The bad news is there will always be something (the curse, our sin, others’ sin) that interferes with our desire for peace and enjoyment. As much as you try to find contentment, there are no guarantees that can make suffering go away permanently (at least not in this life).

Use Your Identity to Find Meaning

Finding the meaning of life is like finding gold. I must tell you what might only seem to be obvious: you can’t find gold if your metal-detector is broken.

If you’re confused about life, your head is probably too cluttered with discouraging thoughts. Before you can understand life, you need to understand yourself. You can’t find anything good in life if your identity is broken.

If you want to know the meaning of life, you first need to calibrate your detector (your identity). God created you, so he is the one to consult when you’re ready to fine-tune your thoughts (or might prefer, ‘get your head screwed on straight’). When you’re thinking clearly, you’ll be able to tell the difference between treasure and junk. Then you can answer the meaning-of-life question for yourself.

Here are some Robert Louis Stevenson quotes that might help you to stir up some of your own ideas:

“To be what we are, and to become what we are capable of becoming, is the only end of life.”

“To know what you prefer instead of humbly saying Amen to what the world tells you you ought to prefer, is to have kept your soul alive.”

“The best things are nearest: breath in your nostrils, light in your eyes, flowers at your feet, duties at your hand, the path of God just before you. Then do not grasp at the stars, but do life’s plain common work as it comes certain that daily duties and daily bread are the sweetest things of life.”

“You cannot run away from a weakness, you must sometimes fight it out or perish. And if that be so, why not now and where you stand?”

“An aim in life is the only fortune worth finding.”

“The truth that is suppressed by friends is the readiest weapon of the enemy.”

“Everyone who got where he is has had to begin where he was.”