Bethany Sydney
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Minggu, 12 Juli 2026

THE PURPOSE OF LIFE

By Jimmy Tjandra

Fam, I am sure all of you are familiar with this popular spiritual song: You know, Lord, the purpose of my life is only to please Your heart. It is such a heart-touching song. Every Christian must have that kind of longing because, frankly speaking, that is indeed a very noble purpose in life. The question is, how can we please God's heart? From that question alone, we know that the most important focus is God's heart, not our own personal tastes. Let me give you a simple example to make it easier for you to understand what I mean. For instance, Ci Thelli likes salty food, but Pak Thelli (her husband) likes food that tends to be sweet. Now, if Ci Thelli wants to please her husband, then Ci Thelli will sprinkle more salt than sugar on the food she cooks for him, right? Do you understand what I mean now? Likewise, if we want to please God's heart, then we should do it according to God's taste, not our own individual preferences. If we sing the praise song I mentioned earlier, for example, will God be pleased? Oh, sorry, that question is still incomplete. Will God be pleased with the praise we sing if, with the same mouth, we gossip, say bad things about other people, and the like? Or when we serve, is God pleased? Goodness, I'm sorry again because that question is still incomplete as well. Is His heart glad to see us serving if, while wearing the same clothes, we look down on His other children, our hearts are still filled with pride, and so on? Wait, don't misunderstand me. I am not at all saying that all the good things we do are not good. Not at all. I actually think that if you have already done all those good things, don't stop doing them. It's just that it would be more accurate for me to say that it is still incomplete. When the Pharisees and the teachers of the law asked about the greatest commandment of the entire Law, Jesus answered in Matthew 22:37 and 39, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself." Do you see the part I bolded? Loving your neighbor turns out to have the same rank as loving God! I don't know how you grasp the message of the Word above, but I see that pleasing God's heart is not only about the beautiful melodies we sing for Him, but also about how we speak and behave toward others. Pleasing God's heart is not only about the tears we shed when singing praise songs to Him, but also about the smiles we give to our neighbors. Pleasing God's heart is not only about what we do inside the Church, but also when we step outside of the Church. Especially when we are outside the Church. Everything we have done for God, let us "perfect" it with kindness toward our neighbors. So that when we sing or simply ask God, "You know, don't You, that the purpose of my life is only to please Your heart?" God will not answer, "Oh, I know, My child, but do you know that?" May the Lord Jesus bless you.