The meaning of Life
The Meaning of Life
Monday, September 29th, 2008 | Life | 2 Comments
I thought I’d add a bit of philosophy to my blog. . I’m sure many of you have asked this question at some time in your life. This entry is not aimed at giving one answer but to look at some of the many answers from my point of view 
If you have read the answer to that question at Wikipedia, you will find the answer according to the many different factions of philosophy and science. Some are quite surprising such as Nihilism which claims that the universe has no meaning, and Logical positivism which doubts whether the question is even meaningful.
As I am a Christian, I believe the purpose of life is to serve God, and one way to serve God is to be the best me that I can be. One nice saying that Andre Agassi got from one of his friends and said in one of his tennis coaching videos, was “Our life is God’s gift to us, what we do with our life is our gift to God”. I think that if we do the best with what we have, what more can we do?? However there will be different interpretations on what is the best way to “do the best with what we have”. How can we do the best with what we have… that also depends on what your values are, some may think that to do the best, would be to spread the Word of God, the best way we can, others may say it’s to use our natural talents the best we can, even if it may be to become the worlds best boxer, such as Evander Holyfield.
So besides pleasing God, what may be other meanings to life?
Just listening to the world a bit, it’s not too hard to come up with answers such as
To be happy
To be powerful
To raise children
To become popular
To make friends
To do business well
To travel the world and explore
To party and have fun
To take care of the world and universe
To study and grow more intelligent
To better the human race
And the list goes on. Why do some people turn to Christianity? to simplify things? I don’t blame you I became Christian as I was born into it. However I can still argue for Christianity with the huge array of counter arguments.
So as you have grasped, I do believe life has a meaning and it’s important to live life according to God’s commands. So for me it’s quite simple.. to please God. Does that mean I can’t have happiness and power? Look at some of the people in the old Testament, they were very rich and powerful with many wives.. I’m sure they were happy and powerful, then again you might say, happy are the meek and those that get persecuted for God’s sake. I agree, they are very special people.
Is it that life in 2008, people are too self centered to be bothered about pleasing anyone else but themselves? We have so many conveniences, and can experience so much if we set self fulfilling goals.
Is life just to see how happy we can be? or for the kinder, how happy we can make our family and friends? Many of us wish that to be the case. Christians say, there is no condemnation for those in Christ, so some people don’t seem to care about if they sin. . and think God is so kind he can’t send anyone to hell could he? Well, this kind of question puts people really off religion. Christians telling others they will go to hell for this or that. . Is the meaning of life to escape hell? to help others escape hell? Those that follow the Great Commission may believe they are saving others from hell.
I have never really taken evangelism to heart, but I respect those that do, maybe I will oneday. I try to do the best I can with my life.. and that’s the kind of meaning to life I like to have.. To be the best me I can be. To use the skills that I believe I have for the good of myself and for mankind.
Someone asked me why I wrote about this topic.. I said.. I feel a bit down… and
When I get down I get deep.. hehe.. :) Life is a garden, dig it.. kind of deep.
On a more personal note.. I am a teacher (ESL and primary school) so I think for me, besides loving family, and as many people I can.. teaching children is one of the main purposes of my life so far, so the meaning of life for me could be to be the best teacher, boyfriend -> husband, friend, classmate, webmaster etc… I can be.
Looking forward to your comments.
-Lindsay
www.sydney-friends.