Odd title for this week's FTM. Putting those two items together would appear to be a far stretch at best, but I've got a little story to share behind today's message of purpose. A little embarrassing, but as in all things, I believe God has a purpose, a lesson, or a plan in all we encounter each day.
It was a Saturday morning, much like the majority of Saturday mornings when I catch up on the week's laundry and then iron and press the wrinkled dress items for the upcoming work week. (Thanking God and the clothing industry for those wrinkle free shirts and pants, but there's still enough wrinkles out there to hold on to the ironing board!). On this particular Saturday, as I set up the ironing board and plugged in the iron for preheating, I also grabbed the can of starch and set it alongside the board while I gathered the hangers. From there it was pretty much a routine hour or so, as I finished up my dress shirts and slacks. I turned off the iron, closed up the ironing board, and was looking around for the aerosol starch can lid, when my attention was drawn to the label on the can. Unbeknownst to me, I had somehow grabbed my aerosol window cleaner can, which to my defense does look very similar to the starch spray I use. (At least that is my story and I'm sticking to it!). Instantly, I went to my shirts and started looking closely to see if the window cleaner had stained my shirts or possibly something worse. Much to my dismay, the shirts appeared to be just as pressed and sleek as in any of my other ironing experiences. When I realized I had not ruined my wardrobe, I half jokingly said to my self, "Well my shirts are ironed and also squeaky clean!" Fortunate that all was well, and thankful for the story starter for a future Flat Tire Ministries Thought. Everything has a purpose and everyone has a purpose, you may be able to substitute and find someone that can fill the void in most situations, but at the end of the day, we have all been called and we each have a divine and unique purpose in this life God created for you to live.
When I think about being born with a purpose, a verse from Proverbs 17:17 comes to mind, "A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for a time of adversity." Now I could spend the rest of our time together sharing how my actual brother Bob has always been there for me and that would not do justice to the brother he is and has always been to me, but for the purpose of today's message, I'm looking at the term "brother" in a much broader sense than just flesh and bones. In I Thessalonians 4:9 Paul explained that loving others in "brotherly love" is our command, "Now concerning brotherly love you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another." And if there is any doubt in your mind what God's purpose for your life is, the words of Jesus in Mark 12:30-31 should clear out any room for question. "And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these." If that doesn't give you a direct understanding of your purpose on this earth, then I'm not sure what you are looking for?
The label on the window cleaner bottle explains the product's purpose which is pretty "clear" to clean your windows. The label on the spray bottle of starch defines one specific purpose for the product within. Use to take out wrinkles from my clothes as I iron. Even though I inadvertently misused the window cleaner during my Saturday morning laundry routine, I didn't convert over to using window cleaner as starch. Each of those products have their own purpose. So do you! Above and beyond our jobs, our roles in our communities, and our interests or goals we are called to love God and then love our neighbors as ourselves. As our scriptures for the day pointed out above, if we are to love others out of brotherly love, and Jesus commanded us to love our neighbors as ourselves, then your purpose and my purpose should be undoubtedly to love others like we love God. And if we love our neighbors as if they are our brother then the verse I referenced from Proverbs gives us our marching orders. "A brother is born for a time of adversity".
If you are searching for your purpose in life you need not look any further. God's plan for your life is to love God first and then to love others just like we love Him. Loving others should be done out of brotherly love, and as King Solomon pointed out in Proverbs 17:17 a brother is born to support others in their adversity. I assure you there is enough adversity in this world to go around for everyone to love someone enough to scoop down and offer a helping hand. You were born on purpose with a divine purpose in mind. Don't get caught attempting to fulfill a purpose outside of God's plan. Our plans are not His plans and our plans will most likely place our individual needs before those of our "brothers" and sisters in Christ. Clean your windows with window cleaner, press your shirts with starch, and love one another as God loves you because that is what you were purposed to do!
Coach Carter
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