What’s Your Purpose in Life After Divorce?

When your marriage has been a big part of your purpose in life you may feel useless or at least question your purpose when your marriage ends. An emptiness of purpose saps your energy and steals your joy.

You do have a purpose! God made you to be in relationship with him and he wants to empower you with purpose.

Because this is so important I have decided to give you a FREE reading from the Christian divorce recovery book Peace After Divorce. 

Finding Purpose in Your Life

It’s in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for.  Long before we first heard of Christ and got our hopes up, he had his eye on us, had designs on us for glorious living, part of the overall purpose he is working out in everything and everyone.

Ephesians 1:11-12 THE MESSAGE

God Has a Purpose for Your Life
Divorce can leave you wondering who you are and why you are living. Rest assured your life has a purpose. In fact Ephesians 1:11-12 states that you have a very important purpose. God did not create you just so you could exist. Purpose in God is about living a life of spiritual vitality. Don’t settle for anything less.

Is it Safe to Accept God’s Purpose for My Life?
Not only is it safe, it is a relief. It answers the question of why you are on earth. You don’t have to be afraid because God loves you. We believe that whatever purpose God calls you to will fill you with spiritual blessing.

So What is My Purpose?
God’s GPS directs you to God’s purpose for your life. This is not a global positioning system, but is a very special GPS–God’s Positioning System. The Bible tells us how to position ourselves to be in God’s purpose. Just follow the GPS below.

G = Grow to be Best Friends with God
P = Partner with People
S = Super-Size your Spiritual Life

Grow to be Best Friends with God
First stop on the journey to finding your purpose is to become friends with God and to know he is with you wherever the road leads. In fact, this is in itself a part of God’s purpose for you. God loves you and wants you to love him right back with your whole heart, soul and mind (Matthew 22:37-38).

Say Yes to God’s Gift. God wants to be the deepest friend of your heart. He paid a tremendous price to let you know that. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). Because God loves you, he offers you his grace. Grace means there is nothing you can do to deserve God’s love, but he gives it to you anyway. When you say yes to Christ, God wipes your slate clean giving you a fresh new beginning.

Live in the Spirit. God gives you his Holy Spirit to live inside of you and guide you in his way. “But he who unites himself with the Lord is one with him in spirit” (1 Corinthians 6:17). Life’s travails won’t disappear, but life will change for the better because God is with you to guide you through life’s challenges. Growing in the Holy Spirit brings “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23).

Partner with People
Love Others. Part of God’s purpose is for you to love others (Matthew 22:39). Loving others for God is not about how you feel as a human. It is better than that. It is instead a decision to act in a way that shows God’s love to others. That’s love with a purpose. It is amazing how achieving this purpose in your life lifts your spirit and shifts your focus from yourself and your own problems. Showing God’s love to others intensifies an awareness of the love of God in your own life.

Hang out with Christians. Spending time with other Christians is another way to partner with God’s people. It has two big pay-offs. First, spending time with other believers is nourishing. It strengthens you as a believer and gives you a chance to receive support and to support others. “Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work: If one falls down, his friend can help him up” (Ecclesiastes 4:9-10). Second, fellowship with other Christians enhances your ability to function as a part of the body of Christ. Combining your gifts with the gifts of other Christians helps you better to serve your purpose. “Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it” (1 Corinthians 12:27).

Super-Size Your Spiritual Life
Seek to Know God Better. God’s power and grace are transforming and empowering. God invites us to join him in his purposes. That’s amazing because what God can accomplish is phenomenal. Remember, God “is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us,” (Ephesians 3:20). The things we dream of pale by comparison to God’s purposes for us. “Put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like him” (Colossians 3:10 NLT).

Rejoice. Since God offers you life after death, it makes sense that he also offers you life after divorce. Seeking your purpose gives meaning to your existence and helps redirect your life away from the past and toward glorious living in Christ. As Ephesians says, “It’s in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for” (Ephesians 1:11 The Message).

Christian Thought:

… Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 3:13-14 NIV

Making Information and Ideas Work
1. What does it mean to your life purpose to have God as your best friend?

2. How can serving others promote God’s purpose for you while lifting your own burdens?

3. What benefits can you gain by connecting with other Christians?

4. How does renewing your life in Christ relate to renewing your life after divorce?

5. Re-read the scripture from Ephesians 1:11-12. (See page 216.) What does it mean to you?

Talk with God–Ponder this reading and share your thoughts with God. Listen so that the Holy Spirit might fill you with wisdom and peace. What concrete actions do you need to take based on what God is saying to you?

Get more help from Renee’s book Peace after Divorce