Why do you matter?
Have you ever questioned your life’s meaning or purpose? Whether from existential despair or soul-searching ventures, most of us face the issue of significance. Many of us run into this quandry more than once.
Postmodernists and certain existential writers toss a bleak answer to this question. “You don’t matter,” they posit. These fatalists throw their hands up in surrender to meaninglessness. Some folks even underscore this with religious fervor and insist that no individual matters more than the collective consciousness. The adage, “it’s not about you” can be easily distorted to reflect an extreme which renders everything untrue.
While such selfless abandon may offer the semblance of humility, this reasoning denies your character and God’s.
Each individual was created for a harmonious purpose, but also endowed with unique significance. No two human snowflakes are alike. Our singular awesomeness is reflected in the patterns of nature. Yet our destiny as image bearers raises our purpose far higher than the impact of a melting crystal.
You alone are you. No one else resonates with the same frequencies, bears your exact gifts, or presents the combination of elements you harbor in your exact packaging. Certain people and circumstances depend upon you and will respond to your impact when no other instrument could bear quite the right effect. Therefore, you matter.
Should you manage to believe this difficult truth, despite being surrounded by so many who deny it, another question rises in its shadow. Why do you matter?
The question of significance has a two-level answer. The first level of our why reflects our shared purpose. All humans exists to glorify our Creator. The next level of the answer aims at individual reasons for life. Each of us has a unique way in which we glorify the One whose image we bear.
In the coming weeks, we’ll look a bit deeper into ways we have specific purposes. Until then, consider your limitations, gifts, social justice concerns, and community where you live as clues to ways you could be shaped for unique significance.
Be Encouraged,
Tina
