Don't Waste Your Life (John Piper)

If my life was to have a single, all-satisfying, unifying passion, it would have to be God’s passion. And, if Daniel Fuller was right, God’s passion was the display of His own glory and the delight of my heart.

What is the point of life - To be happy? Or to glorify God?

Unspoken for many years, there was in me the feeling that these two were at odds. Either you glorify God or you pursue happiness. And that is why I was confused and frustrated for so long.

Enjoying and displaying are both crucial.

Delighting in God is the way we glorify Him. Seeking happiness in God and glorifying God are the same.

Jonathan Edwards says God’s purpose for our lives was that we have a passion for God’s glory and that I have a passion for my joy in that glory, and these two are one passion.

Now we see that in creating us for His glory, he is creating us for our highest glory. He is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him.

With these discoveries, I now felt free to embrace God’s purpose for my life revealed in the Bible. I didn’t have to be afraid that I must choose between pursuing His glory and pursuing my joy. I was free to experience the single passion for God’s supremacy in all things for the joy of all people. I was rescued from a wasted life. Now life could have ultimate meaning – the same meaning God’s life has: enjoying and displaying His greatness.

God created us to live with a single passion to joyfully display his supreme excellence in all spheres of life. The wasted life is the life without this passion.