"I observed that the basic motive for success is the driving force of envy and jealousy!" - Ecclesiastes 4:4 (LB)
“The man without a purpose is like a ship without a rudder – a waif, a nothing, a no man.” – Thomas Carlyle
Welcome to Day 3 of our Purpose-Driven Life journey! We’ve established that life starts with God and that you’re not an accident. Today, Rick Warren asks a penetrating question that will expose the engine running your life: What drives you?
The Universal Truth About Human Motivation
Here’s a reality check: Everyone’s life is driven by something. Whether you realize it or not, there’s a driving force guiding, controlling, and directing your decisions, relationships, and daily choices.
Right now, you might be driven by a looming deadline, a painful memory, a haunting fear, or an unconscious belief. But Warren identifies five of the most common drivers that control people’s lives – and warns why each one leads to a dead end.
The Five Most Common Life Drivers
1. Driven by Guilt
The Prison of the Past
Guilt-driven people spend their entire lives running from regrets and hiding their shame. They’re manipulated by memories, allowing their past to control their future. They often unconsciously sabotage their own success as a form of self-punishment.
When Cain sinned, his guilt disconnected him from God’s presence, and God said, “You will be a restless wanderer on the earth.” That describes most people today – wandering through life without purpose.
But here’s the hope: We are products of our past, but we don’t have to be prisoners of it. God turned a murderer named Moses into a leader and a coward named Gideon into a courageous hero. He specializes in fresh starts!
2. Driven by Resentment and Anger
The Poison You Drink
Some people never get over their hurts. Instead of releasing pain through forgiveness, they rehearse it repeatedly in their minds. Some “clam up” and internalize their anger, while others “blow up” and explode onto others.
Here’s the brutal truth: Resentment always hurts you more than the person you resent. While your offender has probably forgotten the offense and moved on, you continue to stew in pain, perpetuating the past.
Your past is past! Nothing will change it. You’re only hurting yourself with bitterness. For your own sake, learn from it, then let it go.
3. Driven by Fear
The Self-Imposed Prison
Fear-driven people miss great opportunities because they’re afraid to venture out. They play it safe, avoid risks, and try to maintain the status quo. Whether from trauma, unrealistic expectations, or genetic predisposition, fear becomes a prison.
The antidote: You must move against fear with the weapons of faith and love. “Well-formed love banishes fear. Since fear is crippling, a fearful life—fear of death, fear of judgment—is one not yet fully formed in love.”
4. Driven by Materialism
The Myth of More
Their desire to acquire becomes their whole life goal. This drive for “more” is based on three misconceptions:
- Having more will make me happier (but possessions only provide temporary happiness)
- Having more will make me more important (but self-worth ≠ net worth)
- Having more will make me more secure (but wealth can be lost instantly)
Reality check: Real security can only be found in what can never be taken from you – your relationship with God.
5. Driven by the Need for Approval
The Crowd-Following Trap
They allow expectations of parents, spouses, children, teachers, or friends to control their lives. Many adults are still trying to earn approval from unpleasable parents. Others are driven by peer pressure, constantly worried about what others think.
Warren’s wisdom: “I don’t know all the keys to success, but one key to failure is to try to please everyone.” Being controlled by others’ opinions is a guaranteed way to miss God’s purposes for your life.
The Dead End Destination
All these drivers lead to the same place: unused potential, unnecessary stress, and an unfulfilled life.
Without purpose, life becomes:
- Motion without meaning
- Activity without direction
- Events without reason
- Trivial, petty, and pointless existence
As Isaiah complained: “I have labored to no purpose; I have spent my strength in vain and for nothing.”
The Five Great Benefits of Purpose-Driven Living
Warren reveals why discovering God’s purposes transforms everything:
1. Purpose Gives Meaning to Your Life
When life has meaning, you can bear almost anything. Without it, nothing is bearable. Without God, life has no purpose. Without purpose, life has no meaning. Without meaning, life has no significance or hope.
Hope is as essential as air and water. Dr. Bernie Siegel found he could predict which cancer patients would survive by asking, “Do you want to live to be 100?” Those with deep life purpose said yes and were most likely to survive.
2. Purpose Simplifies Your Life
It defines what you do and what you don’t do. Your purpose becomes the standard for evaluating which activities are essential. You simply ask: “Does this activity help me fulfill one of God’s purposes for my life?”
Without clear purpose, you make choices based on circumstances, pressures, and momentary moods. You try to do too much, causing stress, fatigue, and conflict.
3. Purpose Focuses Your Life
It concentrates your effort and energy on what’s important. You become effective by being selective.
The power of focus: Diffused light has little impact, but focused light can start fires. When focused further as a laser, it can cut through steel. There is nothing quite as potent as a focused life, one lived on purpose.
4. Purpose Motivates Your Life
Purpose always produces passion. Nothing energizes like clear purpose. Passion dissipates when you lack purpose – even getting out of bed becomes a major chore.
George Bernard Shaw wrote: “This is the true joy of life: the being used up for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one.”
5. Purpose Prepares You for Eternity
Many people spend their lives trying to create lasting earthly legacies. But all achievements are eventually surpassed, records broken, reputations fade, and tributes forgotten.
The eternal perspective: You weren’t put on earth to be remembered. You were put here to prepare for eternity.
The Two Ultimate Questions
One day you’ll stand before God for a final exam. From Scripture, Warren identifies the two crucial questions God will ask:
- “What did you do with my Son, Jesus Christ?” – This determines where you spend eternity.
- “What did you do with what I gave you?” – This determines what you do in eternity.
Your Life Audit Today
Take an honest look at what’s currently driving your life:
- Are you running from guilt and shame?
- Are you carrying resentment that’s poisoning your present?
- Is fear keeping you from God’s best for your life?
- Are you chasing material things that will never satisfy?
- Are you living for others’ approval instead of God’s purposes?
Nothing matters more than knowing God’s purposes for your life, and nothing can compensate for not knowing them—not success, wealth, fame, or pleasure.
Day 3 Reflection Questions:
- Point to Ponder: Living on purpose is the path to peace.
- Verse to Remember: “You, Lord, give perfect peace to those who keep their purpose firm and put their trust in you.” – Isaiah 26:3
- Question to Consider: What would my family and friends say is the driving force of my life? What do I want it to be?
Your Challenge Today: Identify what’s currently driving your life. Be brutally honest. Then ask God to begin shifting your heart toward His purposes. The next 37 days are designed to help you make that transition from driven by circumstances to driven by divine purpose.
Tomorrow’s Preview: We’ll discover how God has been shaping you for His purposes throughout your entire life – even through the difficult times.
Are you ready to stop being driven by the wrong things and start living on purpose? Share in the comments what you’ve identified as your current life driver. Remember, awareness is the first step toward transformation.
John Thole is the voice behind Beyond Salvation, a blog that captures the highs and lows of life through faith, laughter, and honest reflection. With a passion for storytelling, technology, and spiritual growth, he creates content that resonates with seekers, believers, and anyone navigating life’s journey. Whether sharing personal insights, devotionals, or thought-provoking discussions, John aims to inspire, uplift, and spark meaningful conversations.
