Sharing your Life Message

[Guest guest]

Rick Warren wrote "The Purpose Driven Life", one of the most impacting books ever written. This is why this group exists, so we can learn from each other through our illnesses and healing experiences. There is never a sorrow, a hurt, an illness, a disappointment that God cannot use to teach us more about ourselves and about Him. Trust God to bring you through your struggle, but most important of all, to learn from it. If we cannot release our pain and sorrow over our circumstances to God and His purposes, we will remain IN CAPTIVITY to them! There are people all over this planet held in captivity by their own thoughts, and failure to find release in Christ. Do not be held captive, dear ones, but release your sorrow to the One who can make all things new!If you have not read this book, let me encourage you to, and let it change your outlook. Hugs, Pattyhttp://www.purposedrivenlife.com/en-US/Home/home.htmSharing Your Life Messageby Rick Warren

"Those who believe in the Son of God have the testimony of God in them." (1 5:10a GW)

"Your lives are echoing the Master's Word .... The news of your faith in God is out. We don't even have to say anything anymore – you're the message!" (1 Thessalonians 1:8 MSG)

When you became a believer, you also became God's messenger. God wants to speak to the world through you. said, "We speak the truth before God, as messengers of God." (2 Corinthians 2:17b NCV)

Your Life Message includes your life lessons. These are insights you've learned about God, relationships, problems, temptations, and other aspects of life. prayed, "God, teach me lessons for living so I can stay the course." (Psalm 119:33 MSG)

Sadly, we never learn from a lot that happens to us. Of the Israelites, the Bible says, "Over and over God rescued them, but they never learned – until finally their sins destroyed them." (P 106:43 MSG) You've probably met people like that.

While it is wise to learn from experience, it is wiser to learn from the experiences of others. There isn't enough time to learn everything in life by trial and error. We must learn from the life lessons of one another. The Bible says, "A warning given by an experienced person to someone willing to listen is more valuable than … jewelry made of the finest gold." (Proverbs 25:12 TEV)

Write down the major life lessons you've learned so you can share them with others. We should be grateful did this, because it gave us the books of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes, which are filled with practical lessons on living. Imagine how much needless frustration could be avoided if we learned from each other's life lessons.

Mature people develop the habit of extracting lessons from everyday experiences. I urge you to make a list of your life lessons. You haven't really thought about them thoroughly unless you've written them down. Below are a few questions to jog your memory and get your started:

So what?

What has God taught me from failure? What has God taught me from a lack of money? What has God taught me from pain or sorrow or depression? What has God taught me through waiting? What has God taught me through illness? What has God taught me from disappointment? What have I learned from my family, my church, my relationships, my small group, and my critics?

© 2008 Purpose Driven Life. All rights reserved. Rick Warren is the founding pastor of Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Calif., one of America's largest and best-known churches. In addition, Rick is author of the New York Times bestseller The Purpose Driven Life and The Purpose Driven Church, which was named one of the 100 Christian books that changed the 20th Century. He is also founder of Pastors.com, a global Internet community for ministers.