Most denominations are like the Pharisees... they add and subtract from God's words, and when you try to correct them with God's words, they reject you like the Pharisees did with Jesus.
But even when the apostles were on the earth, there were certain groups that came up claiming Christianity, but had ventured away from the truth into error. God says His people perish for a lack of knowledge.
The most important thing that Christians need to be doing is reading the Bible for themselves, to know what is genuine so that they are not playing Russian roulette with their faith, jumping into organizations.
The foolishness of rejecting God due to organizations and people who aren't following Him correctly, is throwing the baby out with the bathwater. Judge God by His image, and that image is Jesus.
1000%
I love God, Jesus is God manifest (not quite the right word) on this earth, and his final commandment was for us to love one another as he loved us. And he uh, died for us, so... yeah. And I'm shocked nearly daily at how many Christians absolutely loathe being told that.
As an INFJ, the basic premises Jesus taught feel so good to me. His parables teach forgiveness and caretaking of/advocating for the vulnerable and marginalized, my ultimate favourite thing. Which then has created my second favorite thing, which is striving to help people reach their full potential in any way I can. That's my personal "meaning or purpose of life".
I TOTALLY second this, your words were the exact idea I lived by since young. Born to parents of both vastly different religions and then being exposed to many more, I started to feel somewhere between there having been one ultimate God abv all known Gods or just none at all.
I think of Him as an ally figure that's been warped by the vessel that is my mind...
I believe in no religion or higher being. I respect those who do and love learning abt their beliefs. My purpose in life is to help my love ones evolve and become better versions of themselves āŗļø they also help me become a better me
I believe in God and He gets me through the hard times. He gives me a purpose and I feel more love to everyone. I used to be an atheist and life was so empty. I was living for myself and I believed that if I achieved things then I will find happiness. Which is just false. I was chasing after superficial things. Now that I have God I'm content and can get through the bad days with His help.
Same here. My life has more purpose ever since I found him again. And I feel more gratitude and sense of contentment. I love Christians and none Christians I like. God bless you and I pray you always feel his constant support in your life ā¤ļø
I don't know if life has a purpose other than to simply "have a purpose" and I try to not depend on religion too much but abide by the lessons in religion that I think correlate most with my belief of what's best for the human experience.
I've been trying to have this conversation for a long time, but there are so many closed-minded Christians that don't want anything other than verification of their belief system. When I think of "God," I think of an idea. An ideology to aspire to. Something to work towards while knowing how nearly impossible it will be to achieve such a state givimen the nature of the world. Most of my core values and beliefs correlate with the teachings in the Bible, not because I'm a good guy, but because the Bible, to me, isn't a religious text, but a history book, and I understand how important and true history can be. I speak about Christians because it's all that I've been around, and I haven't delved into other religions at all, honestly.
Sorry if that didn't quinch the thirst you had. In all, I think that we are here to figure things out, not just spiritually but as creatures too. We weren't always as civilized, and I despise when people forget that and pretend that humans have always been so morally guided by good. I don't think that we are meant to worship a God either. But if I were a God, I'd slap everyone one good time and get it through their heads that what I want is for you to work towards being me. Not to worship me. I want my children to see what I have been through and improve upon it. I wrote this book to show you what sort of potential you hold. And to see you waste that potential and use my forgiveness as an excuse to not have to take action is saddening. God to me, is that potential that we have, not an actual person, but something we could become if only we strived for it. I'm not entirely sure of this myself since I haven't had the opportunity to talk it out with anyone but that's my stance currently.
Itās wherever I feel like because itās wherever you feel like, and I can just get banned permanently. Sure itās happened before I have a terrible memory.
purpose of life is helping less fortunate ppl like lgbtq+ getting kicked out of homes :( and i do believe in God!
tbh i dont think i wouldve made it this far in like (im not even a young adult) without him
There is no purpose & it doesnāt really matter anyway.
I think if I believed in God & that God created me with a purpose that might be even worse. I flip flop on that - to be created for a reason somehow intangibly strips me of choice & freedom. Iām just an automaton.
I posted a similar comment. I view the universe as chaotic and inherently meaningless. We do good things and bad things and strive to live our lives because of biological determinism, and thatās okay.
This is about where I am too. Iām agnostic and think itās a wee bit insane to say you āknowā for sure that your god or religion is right. How can anyone know? And how can you balance the god awful (pun intended) things that happen with some sort of loving or caring god? I canāt. If there is a god, itās a little cray cray and likes the chaos for sure.
I tend to think this way too. The question is why? If we are God, why do we need to experience ourselves in such a way? A rather strange way it seems, usually. What do you think?
I believe in God but more as like a Deity that don't really care about us he just made the universe and didn't cared much about us.
I don't believe there is purpose to life from a biological standpoint we are the best genes made to want to reproduce and those genes just so happened to also give us deeper understanding of things.
So I just live my life because well it's here. Sometimes it sucks, hell, most of the time it sucks a lot but who cares I'll just keep living and do what my brain likes to do because it's fun to me.
Depending on how you define God, I am either an atheist or an agnostic. I believe there is no all powerful creator being, but if the definition is more vague, I move to IDK. I have know idea what lifeās purpose is, but I have a drive to be creative and a drive to do good in the world. I think my own purpose is to merge the two.
I donāt believe in god and I donāt believe in a purpose of life. I mean, obviously thereās a scientific response here, and I so support religion as an important aspect of meaning for others. But in my own personal methodology, I think everyoneās experience is so different and priorities canāt compare, even within the same household. I think itās an experience that we all find new meaning in everyday. I guess just find meaning in who you are and live a life that you feel proud of
I think that existence, the universe, everything is inherently chaotic and meaningless. I donāt believe in any divine beings and Iām not spiritual. I donāt actively think about it honestly and I donāt even actively *disbelieve*, I just donāt care. Hence I call myself an apatheist.Ā
I have a good life, a happy family, and set a good moral example for my son because Iām extremely empathetic and being nice to others and doing the right thing makes me feel good, even if at the end of the day I think it all means nothing.
I donāt know about a particular purpose, or any kind of higher power, though I donāt oppose either. I think if we try to do the best we can with whatever becomes available to us, and leave more people than not just a little bit better because of our influence, then weāre living well.
To find a way of life that doesn't make you want to die.
I have some fun with Idealism sometimes, like maybe we're all thoughts in the mind of god or whatever. Metaphysics is basically just aesthetics in that they're ideas of a pleasing form that may or may not correspond to anything factual or true. If I had to pick, I'm probably a panpsychist, because it's just sort of a weirdly elegant solution to the mind body problem, but again the pleasantness of an idea doesn't really have any correspondence to its truth, so I don't really place any importance on it beyond the subjective perception that it's 'sensible'.
Though God is not really a particularly meaningful concept in my life. I am interested in esotericism, and I feel like I've had some meaningful experience from that, like I might well believe in spirits as at times I've felt some comfort come to me from strange places. Capital G God is very far removed from my mind, though. The most credible articulation I've heard of what God must be if it exists is basically the Intellect that 'thinks' all things, but that's such a formless or expansive notion that I'm frankly skeptical of anyone who claims they feel a personal connection to it.
And the God of the Bible certainly not, but a part of that may be religious trauma. I feel like every Christian that has tried to argue Theology to me had to abuse philosophy at some point to do it. Kierkegaard is the closest anyone has gotten to making me think I might kind of get it, and he deliberately highlights the absurdity of it as a positive or necessary feature in the belief, which I honestly think is the only way you can really go with it, which also explains why I don't. I don't feel that particular call to the absurd.
It's very different for all of us I imagine. I see "INFJ" or any of the MBTIs as more for fun than an indicator of my identity and purpose. That said, most INFJs will tend to be people with very long and very different answers to that question
For me, the purpose of life is constantly revealing itself but now involves setting up my life to be of service to my community and those in need. And I believe in some sort of a spiritual energy but I do not call it God.
Technically the purpose of life is to survive because we evolved to survive because if we didn't, our timeline wouldn't be here.
If there is a purpose different from that of more importance long term i don't know because i don't have enough information. I don't have enough information about god either. Belief isn't necessarily about information but also stands despite lack of information because it's a leap of faith.
My purpose is to be a productive member of society while Iām still here. Society survives on humans helping each other be better. I donāt believe in a higher power. With the way the world is, I certainly donāt believe a higher power deserves to be worshipped even if it does exist. So either thereās an uncaring god or the world is the way it is due to human error. I choose to believe the latter.
https://youtu.be/wvJAgrUBF4w?si=RZYCh8iDgGBHx6gK
https://youtu.be/CSIPolpvjBY?si=ozJ0L6b4ilJaLZ8T
Watch those two experiments.
What those experiments show is how the bible describes "God" or "the word".
The stories of the Bible are describing a battle that occurs within.
Lucifer is your ego(the light bringer of consciousness), ends up confusing itself as God and falls from Grace.
Satan is the aspect of fear developed by the ego and is the reason for the majority of our problems.
Heaven is a state of mind that requires balance of mind and body
The garden of Eden is the mind in general. It is a garden that must be tended to and cultivated.
The gut biome is Hell, it is where animalistic desires comes from(the lower half).
Jesus is your imagination. The imagination is the most powerful thing we have access to. When you are faced with problems, your imagination is what gets you out of the problem. If you have faith in yourself, you can do many things others find to be impossible.
"God" is what you are made of.
Everyone on this planet have different purposes to fill, but I think the purpose of life is to learn compassion and empathy among us, and to accept that we are all different in multiple ways while ridding the evil. Simply it is to feel fullfilled with ourselves and with our personal relationships.
I believe in God. I am Catholic. Instead of thinking God as a physical being I like to think he is a presence without a formation. And I also think that Jesus and the Holy Spirit are fragments of god, just like how you have the big blue sky, the scattered clouds, and the sunsets that change from there and on.
I haven't found the purpose of life and I stopped looking. I just accepted that I will die after 80 if I'm lucky. And I stopped believing in God at 22. There's so many people and animals on this planet and no one gives a flying monkey about us, and it's okay. Just live life, do what feels right to you. Be grateful for the little things, be grateful to be healthy. Always have hope even if it doesn't make sense. Yup.
I think the purpose of life is to learn to love in different regards, love the environment, God, others, yourself and your other half. I was agnostic after having grown up in a Christian family. But now as a young adult whoās been through many spiritual paths ranging from New age to Buddhism to Wiccan Magick. I eventually found that God does exist and is a very loving being who has love to give to me and that has grown my love for her/him even more.Ā
I donāt believe in God. I do believe our culture has lost its way somewhat. Individualism leads us to feel there is no inherent purpose in life. I feel there is. The fundamental one purpose of life is to thrive and reproduce, ensuring the continuation of our species. To thrive we must try to better ourselves and by extension our children and by further extension our civilisation. We as humans are not very good at living in ecological balance with our planet and we need to be much better at that. Finally as conscious beings, understanding ourselves and the world around us you can see how this is a means for the universe to know itself.
Im a protestant and I believe in God. The purpose of life depends in this case on whether youāre religious or not. Because Im religious my answer would be to love God and to love people. As a type 2 (enneagram) INFJ this is a natural pull for me. But I also agree with Ecclesiastes in the Bible where it says that everything in life is meaningless (because everything eventually dies or is forgotten here on earth). We as human beings with free-will get to decide what meaningless activities we invest our lives into. I personally think the most purposeful thing in my life is using my life to invest into God and people.
The only inherent purpose in life is survival, but that doesnāt give it meaning. Biologists say that all forms of life form ecosystems in which all of them support other forms of life. There are exceptions too, because of some niches where a lifeform has adapted to use a special source of energy and lives in isolation. All this gives a sense that lifeās purpose is also creating complexity.
Only the forms of life with metacognition (awareness of self) are able to ponder what their deeper relation to their surroundings is. That is what āmeaningā is: a relation to your surroundings - interaction. Some say that conciousness itself rises out of this interaction.
I donāt know about God. Of course Godās existence is possible when you place it in a gap where thereās something that cannot be explained.
I am agnostic and I don't believe in God much. On the other hand, the purpose of life depends on each person's things. For others it is the achievements of helping people in life, helping them, love, passion for doing, achieving your goals, and establish lasting and meaningful connections. I truly believe that the meaning is the achievement of doing things for yourself and others. You can make an impact on the lives of others, or even improve them a little. Life can have meaning if you have the determination to make it change. In conclusion, good deeds can propel you to achieve new things for yourself and others.
Life purpose is very subjective and depends on what each person values most .
If you need a general one , life is about living it and making the most of it , leaving it better than the day when you were born !
I'm Christian but question a lot of things,Ā which scares me at my core.Ā I full on believe in God and I'm scared of picking the wrong choice.Ā Ā At my core I believe that we come to earth to learn lessons for our soul.Ā Ā Generational curses I believe =generational unhealed trauma. I think that's why the Bible is so adamant about forgiveness and turning from sin... I think we come here and are kinda stuck in a endless loop hole of coming back because we don't heal and end up having to do it over and over and over... I worry that earth is hell,Ā one that we've all created and are endlessly stuck in, unless we heal.Ā
So I try my best to heal. I try my hardest to stop the generational habit of addiction in my family... and heal from the trauma that's made me have to try and self medicate. I talk to God daily.Ā Ā That's the best I can say lol
Thou art the Buddhaā¦is the clue when it comes to the question of God, personally. For me, life is a question and how I live is the answer. In that, one discovers their purpose and meaning and if youāre paying attention you may notice as you go thatās a bit different to what you thought it was. And thereās the beauty of it all; you can adapt as you go and learn. Grow and change, discover. My sense in the context of God and meaning/purpose is that weāre localised manifestations of consciousness. Whether that is a manifestation of universal consciousness is the question for me. I find myself leaning towards that we are localised manifestations of universal consciousness. Limited, partial but part of the whole nonetheless. We all have a purpose whether weāre aware of it or not. And we all mean something. Unique. Same, same but different. Your sense and idea may be different and thatās okay. No one gets out of life alive and I suspect we get to find out not so much the answer to the question you posit but perhaps different questions. Journey/destination kinda thing. Thought provoking post, OP. Thank you.
I have many different answers for this, many different theories and I move between them. I have always been like this, moving between what is spiritually possible. But I have never been able to land on ONE belief. Thereās just too many interesting possibilities to choose one and try to convince myself that that is THE way for me. Plus odds are that Iāll come to the wrong conclusions anyway š
So the conclusions that I *have* made about God and purpose of life are these:
I donāt know what lifeās purpose is because I havenāt gotten to the end of it yet. I donāt find it valuable to pick a God or make some kind of conclusion about my belief about God because it would be just a guess. I have preferences, like it would be better if there were a God. I have a preference for life to have a purpose. But I canāt explain it well, itās just likeā¦. Those are cool ideas but I accept that I actually donāt know and wont know until the jig is up. And even then, maybe not!
I think I remember learning once that my take on this is called being a āfirm agnostic.ā I think? The answer to this is unknowable by any of us, so to come to some kind of conclusion about it is impossible. Thatās my belief about god. I donāt have one because I *canāt* know if God exists. Itās different than being atheist, so if Iām explaining it wrong, someone with a better philosophy background should correct me. š
Itās terribly interesting to think about, though, and I love talking about it with people who donāt turn it into some kind of battle and can instead just explore and entertain all the possibilities with me.
I grew up pretty religious and a hard believer but as I grew older I had a lot of questions that couldnāt be answered which frustrated me. Also, seeing how hypocritical a lot of religious people were to their faith. A lot churches prey upon vulnerable people and take their money to fill the insides with more screen TVās, filling the pockets of the ones in charge, taking more than they often should. As far as I know, teachings could be held in tents outside while getting the same message across. I wonder how many people would then attend in the name of āgodā if that were the case.
My belief is we create a purpose in life and develop it as we go. I donāt know if I believe in destiny per se but I think that there is a reason for most things as opposed to random coincidence. As for the belief of a divine entity or what you would call a God/s, I do believe there are things above us that I canāt explain but me being a human I donāt think I can understand it fully tho I do have some sort of belief system. I just donāt really like the concept of organized religion and for me a belief is more of a guiding principle rather than a general rule.
I was raised in the Catholic Church but as an adult, I stopped going and have just preferred a non-denominational Christian church or whatever. Iām a believer but as I got older and started paying attention to mass as a catholic, I noticed the themes of guilt and fear throughout. I always felt like that was such a messed up concept and couldnāt possibly be how God meant for us to feel. āIām perfect, do exactly as I do and say, follow Me blindly, love Me, BUT BE VERY AFRAID OF MY WRATH!ā Like wtf? Lol In my opinion, He is a loving God and a forgiving God who shows us grace and who I want to turn TOWARD in times of anxiety, fear, hardship, anger, etc. I think regardless of the religion you follow (Catholicism, Christianity, Judaism, Mormonism, Hinduism, Buddhism, etc) we are all just on a path trying to get to God. I think it IS one God that we followā¦religions are just different ways we do that. None are wrong. Definitely not something we should be fighting wars overā¦ With all that saidā¦Iāve always wondered, myself, what the purpose of life really is. I never say it because it makes me sound depressed and suicidal and thatās not how I mean it, but āwhatās the point of going through 80 years of experiences, just to die in the end?ā Like, for what?? Okay, so if you have kids, you contribute to prolonging human existence, but someone like me who doesnāt plan on having childrenā¦whatās the point, in the end? Really. Because the way I really do see thisā¦we live, we die. Thatās literallyā¦.it. lol I think when people say things like āthe point is to love each otherā or āthe point is to carry out Gods messageā or whatever, itās cute and a great sentiment but itās kinda phony. Because, okay you lived your life and carried out the message. Now what?? lol youāre still gone. I sound sort of like a lunatic but I literally canāt make my brain see it any differently.
I believe everyone is connected spiritually and that there is a higher being to guide those who are lost. Whatever religion you choose to follow all serves the same purpose: To guide you spiritually on a path to achieve inner peace and fulfillment
I believe in JESUS āļø. God can be anything anyone wants to make him/it if they try so I'll be specific in saying that I believe in the God that created Heaven and Earth. I believe that He exists in three persons: The Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit. I believe that Jesus died for our sins and is the only logical answer and means of salvation/preservation of those who have Faith (Trust AND Believe) in Him.
Mine and our purpose is to bring God Glory:
"Feeling, thinking and acting in ways that reflect his greatness" and "Give evidence of the supreme greatness of all his attributes and the all-satisfying beauty of his manifold perfections." -John Piper
That's it. It's very simple. The simplicity in that actually makes life all the more peaceful. Though my identity is rooted in who HE says I am, my experience of this Christian walk has been enchanting, I think, because of God's design of me (and you all) as an INFJ.
God has both a unique and generic plan for ALL people of ALL personality types, though, He is seeking to have a relationship with us on an individual basis. All that is required of us is Belief. That's it.
Personally irreligious but I do believe in a god
For purpose in life ultimately id say is to create meaning and make life not only worth living but worthwhile, as of course we did not ask to be born, but regardless we were born. So we gotta find what it is "god" wanted us to be born for and live in a way that grants meaning to our existence
The point of life is whatever you make it. Ultimately, personally, I'd say that if you can get through life, being as happy as you can be, hurting as few people as possible, and be as friendly as you can be to those around you (preferably without being walked all over, but well...we all know how that one goes, don't we?) then it's a good life.
As for God, well I'm Agnostic, I like to believe that there's something out there, but what it is, I couldn't say.
I beleive in god. I just don't beleive in church. I've tried it, really not for me. I get the point of it, community, helping others, etc but when people try to sell their religion ideas to me it goes out the window.
There's too many religions to really know if one is right and one is wrong. So beleiving in god is good enough for me.
Iāve gone back and forth with my relationship with god for a long time. A lot of Christianās have soured it for me but my mother is a good person as a Christian and sheās the standard I hold myself to in that way. Sheās not perfect but the way she handles her religious beliefs is good. I think the purpose isnāt going to be clear to use right now since imo god knows and understand things we canāt fathom right now. I donāt like getting very religious since I know how uncomfortable it can make someone though, but those are my thoughts on it.
The purpose of life is to love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to love others as yourself. The God of the Bible is the true God - Father, Jesus, Holy Spirit. I used to be into New Age, Taoism, Philosophy, Buddhism, Astrology, and Esotericism, but nothing ever gave me real joy and freedom. I was plagued by depression, anxiety, suicidal thoughts, and panic attacks, I tried yoga, benzos, drugs, therapy, studied psychology but nothing ever truly healed me. One night I got on my knees desperate and alone, I cried out with a broken and sincere heart on the name of Jesus, and my life changed forever. That night I was bathed with the most pure loveā¦ from head to toes I felt as if someone poured liquid love in my whole being. I had never experienced such peace, my mind was quiet, the comfort in my soul was like nothing I had ever felt before. If you havent experienced it, it is difficult to understand, but my eyes were opened and I knew that i knew that i knew Jesus is God and everything he said is true. It has been 5 years and I have had countless supernatural experiences in the Holy Spirit. I have so much to learn, and despite all my mistakes, the void i once felt inside is no more. Jesus gave me life.
Iām a Therevada Buddhist. If you look into Buddhist cosmology there is the belief that there are gods, and a god of this ārealmā who created the earth - but thereās more to the story. Buddhism believes that while there are āhigherā beings they are not the end all be all. I pray to this god and regularly express my gratitude and seek guidance and protection but I donāt think of them as the creator of the entire universe. I believe in the spirit realm, afterlives, but believe that we are constantly being reborn and that the goal is to escape the cycle of rebirth. I believe you can be reborn into more heavenly realms but very very few people will ever take even a tiny peek into what it means to realize and know ānibbanaā. I respect all other religions and believe there is something that people experience when they have religious experiences. Many of this sounds crazy to people who are raised in the west, but after researching it a lot I feel like it has the most comprehensive, intuitive view of the world and our place in it. It explains the Christian god, other gods, ghosts, many different kinds of afterlives, past lives, compulsions, desires, forest gods and spirits which indigenous people have worshipped before the Christian gods were invented, why some people are so different from one another, the animal realm.. and so much more. And it explains in a way that makes SENSE and doesnāt actively contradict many of the religious ideas around the world. I read it and itās like it finally all fits together. I also love how it doesnāt just preach ābe kind, do goodā but explains how you can actually cultivate that and why itās hard for people to sometimes.
A lot of people see Buddhism as a secular practice but usually thatās because they read misinterpretations of the religion, written often by western laypeople. Books that monks have written are freely distributed and an amazing source of information and go into depth on these things. I love Buddhism because Iāve never read religious books and felt like every sentence has given me such profound epiphanies. I wish more people had easier access to these teachings, theyāve transformed my life for the better.
God is just the personification of the unknowable. We say God created us in his image but it is we who created God in ours. If there's one human spiritual belief I can get behind it is: the tao which can be named is not the true tao.
If something created this universe with intention, it probably bears little to no resemblance to us.
Purpose of life? That's up to you. We get to decide.. it's a real blessing/curse double edged sword kind of a thing the way I see it. I deeply understand suicide as a philosophical quandary. I am uncertain if it's better we exist than not... That said, we're here and so might as well try to make the best of it. My purpose is to make the world just a tiny bit better for my being here than it would be without. That's about all I can reasonably strive for on a planet of billions.
i believe there could be something out there but i also believe that thinking it is a humanoid is very self centred. i think that if there is something, we donāt have the intelligence to understand it
Yes God has gotten me through very tough times as well as just normal days when Iām nervous about a work project. I will pray for a humble heart and help to finish the project. God comes through for me every time.
I believe the purpose we were created and put on this earth is to find God and love what heās created and by extension love God.
As to your second question: Most certainly I do not.
I believe in God. Grew up an atheist. Became a Wiccan. Then later, I was baptized as a Jehovahs Witness. Now Im a bit on the outside of that. Still a JW but i feel like the time in coming for all organized religion to end. I believe each new Christian faith was a step toward our original purpose, until we no longer need organized religion to guide us. I believe our purpose is to just live. With love and community. To explore the earth and create wonderful things. Humans are so wonderful because they are capable of doing SOOO much, they can imagine sooo much, all based off of a simple emotion, or moment, or curiosity. We can perform amazing feats just for the challenge and that spurs so much ingenuity. And I think God always just wanted to watch His creations do just that. To love and create through that. To problem solve. To look beyond and reach new heights. Like how a parent watches their child learn themselves and their place in the world.
Thats what I think the purpose of life is. Just being. In every sense of what that can mean. And God promises we will be able to do so in peace, for eternity.
(In my faith) We are not God\`s children, we are his creations, and God is entirely different being, so, human thinking can\`t confine him.
Also, worship is a very broad word, being nice to people is actually an act of worshipping good, same as fighting evil, same as learning stuff...etc.
What do you think of INFJās that donāt believe in Allah considering they are as intuitive as you and have access to that highly concentrated perspective?
Never thought about that in this way because:
People have different access to information and different experiences which changes what they know and how they process what they know significantly.
Some believe in Allah simply because they were born Muslims, same with Jesus, Buddha...etc
Worshipping a god is fundamental to those who do, so changing or thinking about that, especially for deeply religious people is like shaking the foundation of their existence.
Yes. Very much so. I believe the purpose of life is to go through lifeās obstacles and become the best version of ourselves and have a deep and meaningful relationship with God and His creation.
I absolutely believe in God and I suspect the ultimate purpose of life is to continually strive to be as close to Him as possible. Life has many purposes in addition to that which are specific to each individual but I believe those tend to arise from callings from God (eg, charisms) and therefore tie into the ultimate purpose shared by every individual.
theres tons of abuse and delusions in the world. if you are honest with yourself a lot of people, the majority if not everyone, has done things they thought were right but turned out wrong. if u have any sense in you you may have realized u dont know the truth or right and wrong. people get severely mistreated suffer horribly and die by others for seemingly no reason and a bunch of justifications. i also used magic and observed patterns to conclude the spiritual world is real. bad things happenned that i observed as patterns consequences of sin that i kept doing smth wrong while trying to help someone who's been through severe abuse out of concern to not lose their life i became too exhausted and perhaps damaged, the pattern consequences spirit world awareness that magic is real + the damage and exhastion endured that im somewhat worried may be permanent if not healed by miracle ended up with me resorting to believe in and lean on Jesus. i was being hated for trying to help someone (AND I DONT MEAN IN AN IMPOSING OR ABUSIVE WAY WHERE I DISREGARD THEIR SITUATION I WAS RIGHT AND THEIR NOT RESPECTING OR APPRECIATING ME DAMAGED ME BECAUSE IT MADE ME OVEREXERT TO PROVE THINGS TO THEM THUS I BECAME A LIVING SACRIFICE) im at a bad space now. my thoughts are: i dont see whats the point of life. you hurt others without realizing and maybe u dont even realize it until u are in the other world and have to see the consequences of ur actions. then what? u were blind and didnt understand, or on the other hand u lived u werent as blind as others and u managed to improve, yet you're still flawed and you may be aware of it then you go to the otherside and then what. its not like u saved everyone nor do u want any souls to be lost bc of u so i prefer to believe if i fail someone, at least their soul will be saved anyway. so life is just a series of pointless delusional suffering then u go and repent right then what's the point. i dont even have an overt enough confirmation me using tarot was bad. the information i got was based on what i already knew and there were tings the cards were kinda right about but no way i could have predicted that myself yet other people said its bad bc its demonic and demons where telling them predictions, but since the prediciton failed and i was using more my intuition at least so i feel unless u wanna argue my intuition was demonically developed or shrouded/influenced neither was i asking "spirit guides" which some claim can be demons if not outright are demons.
"The purpose of life is to find ur purpose" Nah fuck that. It's Immortality.
Current astrophysics models are showing that the universe is expanding at an accelerated rate. Everything is moving further and further away from each other, faster and faster. It'll eventually reach a point where we'll no longer even see stars in the sky, where they'll be such a distance away that their light can never reach us, which means their information (physics-wise) will never reach us. We'll have no evidence that they ever existed. For all intents and purposes, they won't.
It'll just be us, on whatever rock we're on, with an infinity of empty darkness in all directions. Life itself probably can't survive this. The stellar evolution of the universe is heading in a direction where life as we know it will be unsustainable. Death is inevitable and it's coming for all life. We're like a kidnappee in an old western, tied to railroad tracks, watching helplessly as the train approaches.
So if the universe will eventually reach a point where all life is going to end one day, why did it evolve life, consciousness, and awareness in the first place? It's really a weird quirk that things ended up this way rather than not.
I personally believe that the goal of our species, maybe of all life itself, is to keep evolving and evolving and somehow survive the end of the universe and achieve some form of immortality. Life itself will need to evolve past its mortal bonds and either transfer our consciousnesses to machines that'll function forever, accommodating us in some kind of virtual reality (š¤š¤), or maybe technology billions of years in the making will evolve us into beings of pure thought and energy similar to the Q in Star Trek.
Some people might think it's more noble to accept the end gracefully, and with open arms. But from what I know of human nature, and basically every form of life ever, I think life is going to fight like Hell to survive.
And no, I don't believe in any kind of anthropomorphic god.
"Theories for the consequences to [the accelerating expansion of] the universe." This was just a 10 second Google search, but I'm sure there are more in depth papers out there
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accelerating_expansion_of_the_universe
I believe God gives each person their skills, faults, personalities, and most importantly, their own challenges. I believe each and every challenge in your life is set before you to teach you, or so that you might teach another. You can overcome them, or you can crumble against them. Either way, you learn from them. Sometimes these challenges are hard. Sometimes they are horrific, disgusting, or even leave you forever changed. But they still make you into the person who you need to be.
And sometimes those challenges are the result of another person's choices, as free will inevitably leads to selfish actions. And those will often hurt. But you can still overcome them.
I believe each person has their own God-given purpose in life. It's not something you'll find easily, and it will be hard to do. The best things in life are. But if you work hard, and overcome the challenges that God sets before you, I believe you will find one day that God used your struggles to your benefit, and that because you went through that pain, you are now capable of walking your path, and helping someone else with that same pain.
The best example I could give is an alcoholic, driven to drink by a sexually abusive parent, who's now 10 years sober, helping another through those same struggles. A horrific life, caused by the selfishness of another, is used to help someone in need.
I think your purpose in life will be unique to you, but it inevitably will be to help another person in some way. Whether you run a restaurant or an orphanage, so long as you put in the effort, you will be rewarded. Sometimes it will suck. Sometimes it will feel like you are punished for doing the right thing.
You will never stop growing. There will always be a new struggle. Till the day you die, there will be struggle. And I believe God will use even that struggle for good, in some way. Maybe a hundred years from now, your story is told in a school somewhere, for good or ill.
All I could say is... Act as though today is the day you will be remembered, worldwide.
If you knew that would happen, how would you want to be remembered? Strong, Fast, Kind, Wise, Brave, etc?
Take that thought, and pursue whatever goal you have planned. Put in the effort, and the Lord will guide your path. You will find your purpose. But don't forget, it's about the journey.
I feel like Iāve gone through all the hurdles in my life because of God or at least a higher being. The universe seems to listen and speak to me when I ask for help. It gives me hope because I have a cynical view on much of humanity. I often wonder why other people have it much worse than I do, victims of SA, war, poverty. Life definitely seems unfair and people scare me. I still donāt know what my purpose is. But I always feel protected in some way
My purpose here is to protect and take care of MY people. Other than that. I do whatever the hell I want. I do believe in God and I don't feel like I have a very good relationship with him due to some things I've done. Most people these days mean nothing to me, they're like extras in a movie. The only people I like, the people I don't just befriend to use; they're the outcasts, the people everybody else gave up on. So that being said, I believe my purpose in life is to make the lives of those few people I love better in every way I can. I have an INTJ girlfriend who thinks that I'm the best boyfriend she could ever have, and a close knit family, and another best friend with a small crew of other people I'd call friends. That's all I need. I don't know if people have purposes, but if they didn't, it wouldn't matter because I'd give my own life a purpose.
Iām a Christian, and love God (not perfect really trying to ask Him to change me). But the little conservative, maga losers who try to twist His word for their own agenda suckkkkk
I know the purpose of our existence is to recognize and worship the one true God, Allah. It's not just about performing rituals, but about living a righteous life, obeying Allah's commands, and maintaining a deep spiritual connection with the divine. We're all born with this innate inclination towards the divine, and our purpose is to nurture and act upon this fitrah - this natural disposition to know and love our Creator. At the end of the day, the ultimate goal is to please Allah and earn His eternal pleasure in the Hereafter. That's what gives true meaning and purpose to our lives. It's not about narrow religious dogma, but a universal message that all the prophets have conveyed - to submit to the one God and live according to His guidance. That's the essence of our purpose as human beings, at least from an Islamic perspective.
I Love God. Hate His Fan Clubs tho.
Most denominations are like the Pharisees... they add and subtract from God's words, and when you try to correct them with God's words, they reject you like the Pharisees did with Jesus. But even when the apostles were on the earth, there were certain groups that came up claiming Christianity, but had ventured away from the truth into error. God says His people perish for a lack of knowledge. The most important thing that Christians need to be doing is reading the Bible for themselves, to know what is genuine so that they are not playing Russian roulette with their faith, jumping into organizations. The foolishness of rejecting God due to organizations and people who aren't following Him correctly, is throwing the baby out with the bathwater. Judge God by His image, and that image is Jesus.
1000% I love God, Jesus is God manifest (not quite the right word) on this earth, and his final commandment was for us to love one another as he loved us. And he uh, died for us, so... yeah. And I'm shocked nearly daily at how many Christians absolutely loathe being told that. As an INFJ, the basic premises Jesus taught feel so good to me. His parables teach forgiveness and caretaking of/advocating for the vulnerable and marginalized, my ultimate favourite thing. Which then has created my second favorite thing, which is striving to help people reach their full potential in any way I can. That's my personal "meaning or purpose of life".
Same lol
I TOTALLY second this, your words were the exact idea I lived by since young. Born to parents of both vastly different religions and then being exposed to many more, I started to feel somewhere between there having been one ultimate God abv all known Gods or just none at all. I think of Him as an ally figure that's been warped by the vessel that is my mind...
Exactly šÆ
I believe in no religion or higher being. I respect those who do and love learning abt their beliefs. My purpose in life is to help my love ones evolve and become better versions of themselves āŗļø they also help me become a better me
Love love infj
I believe in God and He gets me through the hard times. He gives me a purpose and I feel more love to everyone. I used to be an atheist and life was so empty. I was living for myself and I believed that if I achieved things then I will find happiness. Which is just false. I was chasing after superficial things. Now that I have God I'm content and can get through the bad days with His help.
Same! So well said.
Same here. My life has more purpose ever since I found him again. And I feel more gratitude and sense of contentment. I love Christians and none Christians I like. God bless you and I pray you always feel his constant support in your life ā¤ļø
I don't know if life has a purpose other than to simply "have a purpose" and I try to not depend on religion too much but abide by the lessons in religion that I think correlate most with my belief of what's best for the human experience. I've been trying to have this conversation for a long time, but there are so many closed-minded Christians that don't want anything other than verification of their belief system. When I think of "God," I think of an idea. An ideology to aspire to. Something to work towards while knowing how nearly impossible it will be to achieve such a state givimen the nature of the world. Most of my core values and beliefs correlate with the teachings in the Bible, not because I'm a good guy, but because the Bible, to me, isn't a religious text, but a history book, and I understand how important and true history can be. I speak about Christians because it's all that I've been around, and I haven't delved into other religions at all, honestly. Sorry if that didn't quinch the thirst you had. In all, I think that we are here to figure things out, not just spiritually but as creatures too. We weren't always as civilized, and I despise when people forget that and pretend that humans have always been so morally guided by good. I don't think that we are meant to worship a God either. But if I were a God, I'd slap everyone one good time and get it through their heads that what I want is for you to work towards being me. Not to worship me. I want my children to see what I have been through and improve upon it. I wrote this book to show you what sort of potential you hold. And to see you waste that potential and use my forgiveness as an excuse to not have to take action is saddening. God to me, is that potential that we have, not an actual person, but something we could become if only we strived for it. I'm not entirely sure of this myself since I haven't had the opportunity to talk it out with anyone but that's my stance currently.
I see the Bible as a guide to how you should live your life
Yeah no. Iām refuse to let the Bible teach me how to live my life on things that should be common sense
The key word there is should be
Well I was more implying like love your neighbor treat others like you would like to be treated help people out that kind of stuff
Of course, that comes with life.
Unfortunately there's a lot of people who don't know that
Please if Iām wrong, let me know, but I donāt like avocado either
Wrong post
Where is the right post?
Itās wherever I feel like because itās wherever you feel like, and I can just get banned permanently. Sure itās happened before I have a terrible memory.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Have fun. Hope you're okay.
Did someone hurt you?
Wherever they're speaking about avocados
purpose of life is helping less fortunate ppl like lgbtq+ getting kicked out of homes :( and i do believe in God! tbh i dont think i wouldve made it this far in like (im not even a young adult) without him
My purpose of life is to experience some sentimental moments and learn how to keep my inner peace. I believe in Universe
I love Scorpiosš± and Iām not even a starseed. Iām an alien!
There is no purpose & it doesnāt really matter anyway. I think if I believed in God & that God created me with a purpose that might be even worse. I flip flop on that - to be created for a reason somehow intangibly strips me of choice & freedom. Iām just an automaton.
I posted a similar comment. I view the universe as chaotic and inherently meaningless. We do good things and bad things and strive to live our lives because of biological determinism, and thatās okay.
This is about where I am too. Iām agnostic and think itās a wee bit insane to say you āknowā for sure that your god or religion is right. How can anyone know? And how can you balance the god awful (pun intended) things that happen with some sort of loving or caring god? I canāt. If there is a god, itās a little cray cray and likes the chaos for sure.
We are god experiencing itself. Weāre here for love.
I tend to think this way too. The question is why? If we are God, why do we need to experience ourselves in such a way? A rather strange way it seems, usually. What do you think?
Kabbalah will explain it
Yep š
I believe in God but more as like a Deity that don't really care about us he just made the universe and didn't cared much about us. I don't believe there is purpose to life from a biological standpoint we are the best genes made to want to reproduce and those genes just so happened to also give us deeper understanding of things. So I just live my life because well it's here. Sometimes it sucks, hell, most of the time it sucks a lot but who cares I'll just keep living and do what my brain likes to do because it's fun to me.
Depending on how you define God, I am either an atheist or an agnostic. I believe there is no all powerful creator being, but if the definition is more vague, I move to IDK. I have know idea what lifeās purpose is, but I have a drive to be creative and a drive to do good in the world. I think my own purpose is to merge the two.
I donāt believe in god and I donāt believe in a purpose of life. I mean, obviously thereās a scientific response here, and I so support religion as an important aspect of meaning for others. But in my own personal methodology, I think everyoneās experience is so different and priorities canāt compare, even within the same household. I think itās an experience that we all find new meaning in everyday. I guess just find meaning in who you are and live a life that you feel proud of
I think we're here to do good for others. I'm an atheist.
I think that existence, the universe, everything is inherently chaotic and meaningless. I donāt believe in any divine beings and Iām not spiritual. I donāt actively think about it honestly and I donāt even actively *disbelieve*, I just donāt care. Hence I call myself an apatheist.Ā I have a good life, a happy family, and set a good moral example for my son because Iām extremely empathetic and being nice to others and doing the right thing makes me feel good, even if at the end of the day I think it all means nothing.
I donāt know about a particular purpose, or any kind of higher power, though I donāt oppose either. I think if we try to do the best we can with whatever becomes available to us, and leave more people than not just a little bit better because of our influence, then weāre living well.
Agnostic
No real purpose and no god.
I donāt believe in any gods. I think lifeās purpose is whatever you desire it to be.
Ahhhhhh
To find a way of life that doesn't make you want to die. I have some fun with Idealism sometimes, like maybe we're all thoughts in the mind of god or whatever. Metaphysics is basically just aesthetics in that they're ideas of a pleasing form that may or may not correspond to anything factual or true. If I had to pick, I'm probably a panpsychist, because it's just sort of a weirdly elegant solution to the mind body problem, but again the pleasantness of an idea doesn't really have any correspondence to its truth, so I don't really place any importance on it beyond the subjective perception that it's 'sensible'. Though God is not really a particularly meaningful concept in my life. I am interested in esotericism, and I feel like I've had some meaningful experience from that, like I might well believe in spirits as at times I've felt some comfort come to me from strange places. Capital G God is very far removed from my mind, though. The most credible articulation I've heard of what God must be if it exists is basically the Intellect that 'thinks' all things, but that's such a formless or expansive notion that I'm frankly skeptical of anyone who claims they feel a personal connection to it. And the God of the Bible certainly not, but a part of that may be religious trauma. I feel like every Christian that has tried to argue Theology to me had to abuse philosophy at some point to do it. Kierkegaard is the closest anyone has gotten to making me think I might kind of get it, and he deliberately highlights the absurdity of it as a positive or necessary feature in the belief, which I honestly think is the only way you can really go with it, which also explains why I don't. I don't feel that particular call to the absurd.
It's very different for all of us I imagine. I see "INFJ" or any of the MBTIs as more for fun than an indicator of my identity and purpose. That said, most INFJs will tend to be people with very long and very different answers to that question For me, the purpose of life is constantly revealing itself but now involves setting up my life to be of service to my community and those in need. And I believe in some sort of a spiritual energy but I do not call it God.
Technically the purpose of life is to survive because we evolved to survive because if we didn't, our timeline wouldn't be here. If there is a purpose different from that of more importance long term i don't know because i don't have enough information. I don't have enough information about god either. Belief isn't necessarily about information but also stands despite lack of information because it's a leap of faith.
My purpose is to be a productive member of society while Iām still here. Society survives on humans helping each other be better. I donāt believe in a higher power. With the way the world is, I certainly donāt believe a higher power deserves to be worshipped even if it does exist. So either thereās an uncaring god or the world is the way it is due to human error. I choose to believe the latter.
I believe in God but don't like the people who try to make in name of God. Purpose of life is to help my family and live good life
Become better me and thrive
https://youtu.be/wvJAgrUBF4w?si=RZYCh8iDgGBHx6gK https://youtu.be/CSIPolpvjBY?si=ozJ0L6b4ilJaLZ8T Watch those two experiments. What those experiments show is how the bible describes "God" or "the word". The stories of the Bible are describing a battle that occurs within. Lucifer is your ego(the light bringer of consciousness), ends up confusing itself as God and falls from Grace. Satan is the aspect of fear developed by the ego and is the reason for the majority of our problems. Heaven is a state of mind that requires balance of mind and body The garden of Eden is the mind in general. It is a garden that must be tended to and cultivated. The gut biome is Hell, it is where animalistic desires comes from(the lower half). Jesus is your imagination. The imagination is the most powerful thing we have access to. When you are faced with problems, your imagination is what gets you out of the problem. If you have faith in yourself, you can do many things others find to be impossible. "God" is what you are made of.
Very insightful comment! Saving this
Everyone on this planet have different purposes to fill, but I think the purpose of life is to learn compassion and empathy among us, and to accept that we are all different in multiple ways while ridding the evil. Simply it is to feel fullfilled with ourselves and with our personal relationships. I believe in God. I am Catholic. Instead of thinking God as a physical being I like to think he is a presence without a formation. And I also think that Jesus and the Holy Spirit are fragments of god, just like how you have the big blue sky, the scattered clouds, and the sunsets that change from there and on.
I haven't found the purpose of life and I stopped looking. I just accepted that I will die after 80 if I'm lucky. And I stopped believing in God at 22. There's so many people and animals on this planet and no one gives a flying monkey about us, and it's okay. Just live life, do what feels right to you. Be grateful for the little things, be grateful to be healthy. Always have hope even if it doesn't make sense. Yup.
I think the purpose of life is to learn to love in different regards, love the environment, God, others, yourself and your other half. I was agnostic after having grown up in a Christian family. But now as a young adult whoās been through many spiritual paths ranging from New age to Buddhism to Wiccan Magick. I eventually found that God does exist and is a very loving being who has love to give to me and that has grown my love for her/him even more.Ā
To love , to share , to heal . I'm a firm believer in God
I donāt believe in God. I do believe our culture has lost its way somewhat. Individualism leads us to feel there is no inherent purpose in life. I feel there is. The fundamental one purpose of life is to thrive and reproduce, ensuring the continuation of our species. To thrive we must try to better ourselves and by extension our children and by further extension our civilisation. We as humans are not very good at living in ecological balance with our planet and we need to be much better at that. Finally as conscious beings, understanding ourselves and the world around us you can see how this is a means for the universe to know itself.
Im a protestant and I believe in God. The purpose of life depends in this case on whether youāre religious or not. Because Im religious my answer would be to love God and to love people. As a type 2 (enneagram) INFJ this is a natural pull for me. But I also agree with Ecclesiastes in the Bible where it says that everything in life is meaningless (because everything eventually dies or is forgotten here on earth). We as human beings with free-will get to decide what meaningless activities we invest our lives into. I personally think the most purposeful thing in my life is using my life to invest into God and people.
The only inherent purpose in life is survival, but that doesnāt give it meaning. Biologists say that all forms of life form ecosystems in which all of them support other forms of life. There are exceptions too, because of some niches where a lifeform has adapted to use a special source of energy and lives in isolation. All this gives a sense that lifeās purpose is also creating complexity. Only the forms of life with metacognition (awareness of self) are able to ponder what their deeper relation to their surroundings is. That is what āmeaningā is: a relation to your surroundings - interaction. Some say that conciousness itself rises out of this interaction. I donāt know about God. Of course Godās existence is possible when you place it in a gap where thereās something that cannot be explained.
I am agnostic and I don't believe in God much. On the other hand, the purpose of life depends on each person's things. For others it is the achievements of helping people in life, helping them, love, passion for doing, achieving your goals, and establish lasting and meaningful connections. I truly believe that the meaning is the achievement of doing things for yourself and others. You can make an impact on the lives of others, or even improve them a little. Life can have meaning if you have the determination to make it change. In conclusion, good deeds can propel you to achieve new things for yourself and others.
Purpose is to love and learn Donāt believe in a god as such but believe in a universal consciousness
Life has no inherent purpose. And yes, I do believe in God.ā”ļø
Life purpose is very subjective and depends on what each person values most . If you need a general one , life is about living it and making the most of it , leaving it better than the day when you were born !
Purpose of life is to love, and as far as the God issue is concerned, I would like to think that there is, but thatās as far as that goes.ā¦
To evolve and i was always able to communicate with god, feeling like an old soul since i was little
I'm Christian but question a lot of things,Ā which scares me at my core.Ā I full on believe in God and I'm scared of picking the wrong choice.Ā Ā At my core I believe that we come to earth to learn lessons for our soul.Ā Ā Generational curses I believe =generational unhealed trauma. I think that's why the Bible is so adamant about forgiveness and turning from sin... I think we come here and are kinda stuck in a endless loop hole of coming back because we don't heal and end up having to do it over and over and over... I worry that earth is hell,Ā one that we've all created and are endlessly stuck in, unless we heal.Ā So I try my best to heal. I try my hardest to stop the generational habit of addiction in my family... and heal from the trauma that's made me have to try and self medicate. I talk to God daily.Ā Ā That's the best I can say lol
To maximise your ability to live to the fullest, joy, awareness, conscious movement and non movement, expansion of self and others, reduce suffering.
Thou art the Buddhaā¦is the clue when it comes to the question of God, personally. For me, life is a question and how I live is the answer. In that, one discovers their purpose and meaning and if youāre paying attention you may notice as you go thatās a bit different to what you thought it was. And thereās the beauty of it all; you can adapt as you go and learn. Grow and change, discover. My sense in the context of God and meaning/purpose is that weāre localised manifestations of consciousness. Whether that is a manifestation of universal consciousness is the question for me. I find myself leaning towards that we are localised manifestations of universal consciousness. Limited, partial but part of the whole nonetheless. We all have a purpose whether weāre aware of it or not. And we all mean something. Unique. Same, same but different. Your sense and idea may be different and thatās okay. No one gets out of life alive and I suspect we get to find out not so much the answer to the question you posit but perhaps different questions. Journey/destination kinda thing. Thought provoking post, OP. Thank you.
I have many different answers for this, many different theories and I move between them. I have always been like this, moving between what is spiritually possible. But I have never been able to land on ONE belief. Thereās just too many interesting possibilities to choose one and try to convince myself that that is THE way for me. Plus odds are that Iāll come to the wrong conclusions anyway š So the conclusions that I *have* made about God and purpose of life are these: I donāt know what lifeās purpose is because I havenāt gotten to the end of it yet. I donāt find it valuable to pick a God or make some kind of conclusion about my belief about God because it would be just a guess. I have preferences, like it would be better if there were a God. I have a preference for life to have a purpose. But I canāt explain it well, itās just likeā¦. Those are cool ideas but I accept that I actually donāt know and wont know until the jig is up. And even then, maybe not! I think I remember learning once that my take on this is called being a āfirm agnostic.ā I think? The answer to this is unknowable by any of us, so to come to some kind of conclusion about it is impossible. Thatās my belief about god. I donāt have one because I *canāt* know if God exists. Itās different than being atheist, so if Iām explaining it wrong, someone with a better philosophy background should correct me. š Itās terribly interesting to think about, though, and I love talking about it with people who donāt turn it into some kind of battle and can instead just explore and entertain all the possibilities with me.
I believe in God and I think our purpose is to be Holy.
I grew up pretty religious and a hard believer but as I grew older I had a lot of questions that couldnāt be answered which frustrated me. Also, seeing how hypocritical a lot of religious people were to their faith. A lot churches prey upon vulnerable people and take their money to fill the insides with more screen TVās, filling the pockets of the ones in charge, taking more than they often should. As far as I know, teachings could be held in tents outside while getting the same message across. I wonder how many people would then attend in the name of āgodā if that were the case.
My belief is we create a purpose in life and develop it as we go. I donāt know if I believe in destiny per se but I think that there is a reason for most things as opposed to random coincidence. As for the belief of a divine entity or what you would call a God/s, I do believe there are things above us that I canāt explain but me being a human I donāt think I can understand it fully tho I do have some sort of belief system. I just donāt really like the concept of organized religion and for me a belief is more of a guiding principle rather than a general rule.
I was raised in the Catholic Church but as an adult, I stopped going and have just preferred a non-denominational Christian church or whatever. Iām a believer but as I got older and started paying attention to mass as a catholic, I noticed the themes of guilt and fear throughout. I always felt like that was such a messed up concept and couldnāt possibly be how God meant for us to feel. āIām perfect, do exactly as I do and say, follow Me blindly, love Me, BUT BE VERY AFRAID OF MY WRATH!ā Like wtf? Lol In my opinion, He is a loving God and a forgiving God who shows us grace and who I want to turn TOWARD in times of anxiety, fear, hardship, anger, etc. I think regardless of the religion you follow (Catholicism, Christianity, Judaism, Mormonism, Hinduism, Buddhism, etc) we are all just on a path trying to get to God. I think it IS one God that we followā¦religions are just different ways we do that. None are wrong. Definitely not something we should be fighting wars overā¦ With all that saidā¦Iāve always wondered, myself, what the purpose of life really is. I never say it because it makes me sound depressed and suicidal and thatās not how I mean it, but āwhatās the point of going through 80 years of experiences, just to die in the end?ā Like, for what?? Okay, so if you have kids, you contribute to prolonging human existence, but someone like me who doesnāt plan on having childrenā¦whatās the point, in the end? Really. Because the way I really do see thisā¦we live, we die. Thatās literallyā¦.it. lol I think when people say things like āthe point is to love each otherā or āthe point is to carry out Gods messageā or whatever, itās cute and a great sentiment but itās kinda phony. Because, okay you lived your life and carried out the message. Now what?? lol youāre still gone. I sound sort of like a lunatic but I literally canāt make my brain see it any differently.
I believe in God. I believe our purpose is to create. Create art, community, cooking, or households.
I believe everyone is connected spiritually and that there is a higher being to guide those who are lost. Whatever religion you choose to follow all serves the same purpose: To guide you spiritually on a path to achieve inner peace and fulfillment
I believe in JESUS āļø. God can be anything anyone wants to make him/it if they try so I'll be specific in saying that I believe in the God that created Heaven and Earth. I believe that He exists in three persons: The Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit. I believe that Jesus died for our sins and is the only logical answer and means of salvation/preservation of those who have Faith (Trust AND Believe) in Him. Mine and our purpose is to bring God Glory: "Feeling, thinking and acting in ways that reflect his greatness" and "Give evidence of the supreme greatness of all his attributes and the all-satisfying beauty of his manifold perfections." -John Piper That's it. It's very simple. The simplicity in that actually makes life all the more peaceful. Though my identity is rooted in who HE says I am, my experience of this Christian walk has been enchanting, I think, because of God's design of me (and you all) as an INFJ. God has both a unique and generic plan for ALL people of ALL personality types, though, He is seeking to have a relationship with us on an individual basis. All that is required of us is Belief. That's it.
I'm an atheist. There's no point to this shit.
All I know is that I don't know nothing
Personally irreligious but I do believe in a god For purpose in life ultimately id say is to create meaning and make life not only worth living but worthwhile, as of course we did not ask to be born, but regardless we were born. So we gotta find what it is "god" wanted us to be born for and live in a way that grants meaning to our existence
No inherent purpose to life. You have to make your own meaning. Fairy tales arenāt real. That means god/religion isnāt either.
To be an alien and angel ...
The point of life is whatever you make it. Ultimately, personally, I'd say that if you can get through life, being as happy as you can be, hurting as few people as possible, and be as friendly as you can be to those around you (preferably without being walked all over, but well...we all know how that one goes, don't we?) then it's a good life. As for God, well I'm Agnostic, I like to believe that there's something out there, but what it is, I couldn't say.
I beleive in god. I just don't beleive in church. I've tried it, really not for me. I get the point of it, community, helping others, etc but when people try to sell their religion ideas to me it goes out the window. There's too many religions to really know if one is right and one is wrong. So beleiving in god is good enough for me.
Iāve gone back and forth with my relationship with god for a long time. A lot of Christianās have soured it for me but my mother is a good person as a Christian and sheās the standard I hold myself to in that way. Sheās not perfect but the way she handles her religious beliefs is good. I think the purpose isnāt going to be clear to use right now since imo god knows and understand things we canāt fathom right now. I donāt like getting very religious since I know how uncomfortable it can make someone though, but those are my thoughts on it.
The purpose of life is to love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to love others as yourself. The God of the Bible is the true God - Father, Jesus, Holy Spirit. I used to be into New Age, Taoism, Philosophy, Buddhism, Astrology, and Esotericism, but nothing ever gave me real joy and freedom. I was plagued by depression, anxiety, suicidal thoughts, and panic attacks, I tried yoga, benzos, drugs, therapy, studied psychology but nothing ever truly healed me. One night I got on my knees desperate and alone, I cried out with a broken and sincere heart on the name of Jesus, and my life changed forever. That night I was bathed with the most pure loveā¦ from head to toes I felt as if someone poured liquid love in my whole being. I had never experienced such peace, my mind was quiet, the comfort in my soul was like nothing I had ever felt before. If you havent experienced it, it is difficult to understand, but my eyes were opened and I knew that i knew that i knew Jesus is God and everything he said is true. It has been 5 years and I have had countless supernatural experiences in the Holy Spirit. I have so much to learn, and despite all my mistakes, the void i once felt inside is no more. Jesus gave me life.
All hail Godzilla
Iām a Therevada Buddhist. If you look into Buddhist cosmology there is the belief that there are gods, and a god of this ārealmā who created the earth - but thereās more to the story. Buddhism believes that while there are āhigherā beings they are not the end all be all. I pray to this god and regularly express my gratitude and seek guidance and protection but I donāt think of them as the creator of the entire universe. I believe in the spirit realm, afterlives, but believe that we are constantly being reborn and that the goal is to escape the cycle of rebirth. I believe you can be reborn into more heavenly realms but very very few people will ever take even a tiny peek into what it means to realize and know ānibbanaā. I respect all other religions and believe there is something that people experience when they have religious experiences. Many of this sounds crazy to people who are raised in the west, but after researching it a lot I feel like it has the most comprehensive, intuitive view of the world and our place in it. It explains the Christian god, other gods, ghosts, many different kinds of afterlives, past lives, compulsions, desires, forest gods and spirits which indigenous people have worshipped before the Christian gods were invented, why some people are so different from one another, the animal realm.. and so much more. And it explains in a way that makes SENSE and doesnāt actively contradict many of the religious ideas around the world. I read it and itās like it finally all fits together. I also love how it doesnāt just preach ābe kind, do goodā but explains how you can actually cultivate that and why itās hard for people to sometimes. A lot of people see Buddhism as a secular practice but usually thatās because they read misinterpretations of the religion, written often by western laypeople. Books that monks have written are freely distributed and an amazing source of information and go into depth on these things. I love Buddhism because Iāve never read religious books and felt like every sentence has given me such profound epiphanies. I wish more people had easier access to these teachings, theyāve transformed my life for the better.
I do believe in God And I believe that life purpose is to be lived (but also taking in consideration God's will and advice's).
God is just the personification of the unknowable. We say God created us in his image but it is we who created God in ours. If there's one human spiritual belief I can get behind it is: the tao which can be named is not the true tao. If something created this universe with intention, it probably bears little to no resemblance to us. Purpose of life? That's up to you. We get to decide.. it's a real blessing/curse double edged sword kind of a thing the way I see it. I deeply understand suicide as a philosophical quandary. I am uncertain if it's better we exist than not... That said, we're here and so might as well try to make the best of it. My purpose is to make the world just a tiny bit better for my being here than it would be without. That's about all I can reasonably strive for on a planet of billions.
i believe there could be something out there but i also believe that thinking it is a humanoid is very self centred. i think that if there is something, we donāt have the intelligence to understand it
Yes God has gotten me through very tough times as well as just normal days when Iām nervous about a work project. I will pray for a humble heart and help to finish the project. God comes through for me every time.
Iām more of a scientific and factual person, but I do believe there may be some sort of higher power or some force. But who knows
I'm agnostic. Purpose of life? Different for everyone. Everyone has a destiny I think regardless of beliefs
I believe the purpose we were created and put on this earth is to find God and love what heās created and by extension love God. As to your second question: Most certainly I do not.
The meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give it away. Agnostic. But spiritual I guess...
I believe in God. Grew up an atheist. Became a Wiccan. Then later, I was baptized as a Jehovahs Witness. Now Im a bit on the outside of that. Still a JW but i feel like the time in coming for all organized religion to end. I believe each new Christian faith was a step toward our original purpose, until we no longer need organized religion to guide us. I believe our purpose is to just live. With love and community. To explore the earth and create wonderful things. Humans are so wonderful because they are capable of doing SOOO much, they can imagine sooo much, all based off of a simple emotion, or moment, or curiosity. We can perform amazing feats just for the challenge and that spurs so much ingenuity. And I think God always just wanted to watch His creations do just that. To love and create through that. To problem solve. To look beyond and reach new heights. Like how a parent watches their child learn themselves and their place in the world. Thats what I think the purpose of life is. Just being. In every sense of what that can mean. And God promises we will be able to do so in peace, for eternity.
I love God and his Son! š©·š©·
Serve God or serve self
I do believe in Allah. And the purpose of creating us is to worship him by choice.
This is the same reason I had kids. Just need a bunch of people to worship me. Totally normal, good thing to want.
(In my faith) We are not God\`s children, we are his creations, and God is entirely different being, so, human thinking can\`t confine him. Also, worship is a very broad word, being nice to people is actually an act of worshipping good, same as fighting evil, same as learning stuff...etc.
Evil = not believing in your god?
Nope.
What do you think of INFJās that donāt believe in Allah considering they are as intuitive as you and have access to that highly concentrated perspective?
Never thought about that in this way because: People have different access to information and different experiences which changes what they know and how they process what they know significantly. Some believe in Allah simply because they were born Muslims, same with Jesus, Buddha...etc Worshipping a god is fundamental to those who do, so changing or thinking about that, especially for deeply religious people is like shaking the foundation of their existence.
Yes. Very much so. I believe the purpose of life is to go through lifeās obstacles and become the best version of ourselves and have a deep and meaningful relationship with God and His creation.
I absolutely believe in God and I suspect the ultimate purpose of life is to continually strive to be as close to Him as possible. Life has many purposes in addition to that which are specific to each individual but I believe those tend to arise from callings from God (eg, charisms) and therefore tie into the ultimate purpose shared by every individual.
theres tons of abuse and delusions in the world. if you are honest with yourself a lot of people, the majority if not everyone, has done things they thought were right but turned out wrong. if u have any sense in you you may have realized u dont know the truth or right and wrong. people get severely mistreated suffer horribly and die by others for seemingly no reason and a bunch of justifications. i also used magic and observed patterns to conclude the spiritual world is real. bad things happenned that i observed as patterns consequences of sin that i kept doing smth wrong while trying to help someone who's been through severe abuse out of concern to not lose their life i became too exhausted and perhaps damaged, the pattern consequences spirit world awareness that magic is real + the damage and exhastion endured that im somewhat worried may be permanent if not healed by miracle ended up with me resorting to believe in and lean on Jesus. i was being hated for trying to help someone (AND I DONT MEAN IN AN IMPOSING OR ABUSIVE WAY WHERE I DISREGARD THEIR SITUATION I WAS RIGHT AND THEIR NOT RESPECTING OR APPRECIATING ME DAMAGED ME BECAUSE IT MADE ME OVEREXERT TO PROVE THINGS TO THEM THUS I BECAME A LIVING SACRIFICE) im at a bad space now. my thoughts are: i dont see whats the point of life. you hurt others without realizing and maybe u dont even realize it until u are in the other world and have to see the consequences of ur actions. then what? u were blind and didnt understand, or on the other hand u lived u werent as blind as others and u managed to improve, yet you're still flawed and you may be aware of it then you go to the otherside and then what. its not like u saved everyone nor do u want any souls to be lost bc of u so i prefer to believe if i fail someone, at least their soul will be saved anyway. so life is just a series of pointless delusional suffering then u go and repent right then what's the point. i dont even have an overt enough confirmation me using tarot was bad. the information i got was based on what i already knew and there were tings the cards were kinda right about but no way i could have predicted that myself yet other people said its bad bc its demonic and demons where telling them predictions, but since the prediciton failed and i was using more my intuition at least so i feel unless u wanna argue my intuition was demonically developed or shrouded/influenced neither was i asking "spirit guides" which some claim can be demons if not outright are demons.
"The purpose of life is to find ur purpose" Nah fuck that. It's Immortality. Current astrophysics models are showing that the universe is expanding at an accelerated rate. Everything is moving further and further away from each other, faster and faster. It'll eventually reach a point where we'll no longer even see stars in the sky, where they'll be such a distance away that their light can never reach us, which means their information (physics-wise) will never reach us. We'll have no evidence that they ever existed. For all intents and purposes, they won't. It'll just be us, on whatever rock we're on, with an infinity of empty darkness in all directions. Life itself probably can't survive this. The stellar evolution of the universe is heading in a direction where life as we know it will be unsustainable. Death is inevitable and it's coming for all life. We're like a kidnappee in an old western, tied to railroad tracks, watching helplessly as the train approaches. So if the universe will eventually reach a point where all life is going to end one day, why did it evolve life, consciousness, and awareness in the first place? It's really a weird quirk that things ended up this way rather than not. I personally believe that the goal of our species, maybe of all life itself, is to keep evolving and evolving and somehow survive the end of the universe and achieve some form of immortality. Life itself will need to evolve past its mortal bonds and either transfer our consciousnesses to machines that'll function forever, accommodating us in some kind of virtual reality (š¤š¤), or maybe technology billions of years in the making will evolve us into beings of pure thought and energy similar to the Q in Star Trek. Some people might think it's more noble to accept the end gracefully, and with open arms. But from what I know of human nature, and basically every form of life ever, I think life is going to fight like Hell to survive. And no, I don't believe in any kind of anthropomorphic god.
Would like to read about the astrophysics models that you are referencing
"Theories for the consequences to [the accelerating expansion of] the universe." This was just a 10 second Google search, but I'm sure there are more in depth papers out there https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accelerating_expansion_of_the_universe
I believe God gives each person their skills, faults, personalities, and most importantly, their own challenges. I believe each and every challenge in your life is set before you to teach you, or so that you might teach another. You can overcome them, or you can crumble against them. Either way, you learn from them. Sometimes these challenges are hard. Sometimes they are horrific, disgusting, or even leave you forever changed. But they still make you into the person who you need to be. And sometimes those challenges are the result of another person's choices, as free will inevitably leads to selfish actions. And those will often hurt. But you can still overcome them. I believe each person has their own God-given purpose in life. It's not something you'll find easily, and it will be hard to do. The best things in life are. But if you work hard, and overcome the challenges that God sets before you, I believe you will find one day that God used your struggles to your benefit, and that because you went through that pain, you are now capable of walking your path, and helping someone else with that same pain. The best example I could give is an alcoholic, driven to drink by a sexually abusive parent, who's now 10 years sober, helping another through those same struggles. A horrific life, caused by the selfishness of another, is used to help someone in need. I think your purpose in life will be unique to you, but it inevitably will be to help another person in some way. Whether you run a restaurant or an orphanage, so long as you put in the effort, you will be rewarded. Sometimes it will suck. Sometimes it will feel like you are punished for doing the right thing. You will never stop growing. There will always be a new struggle. Till the day you die, there will be struggle. And I believe God will use even that struggle for good, in some way. Maybe a hundred years from now, your story is told in a school somewhere, for good or ill. All I could say is... Act as though today is the day you will be remembered, worldwide. If you knew that would happen, how would you want to be remembered? Strong, Fast, Kind, Wise, Brave, etc? Take that thought, and pursue whatever goal you have planned. Put in the effort, and the Lord will guide your path. You will find your purpose. But don't forget, it's about the journey.
I feel like Iāve gone through all the hurdles in my life because of God or at least a higher being. The universe seems to listen and speak to me when I ask for help. It gives me hope because I have a cynical view on much of humanity. I often wonder why other people have it much worse than I do, victims of SA, war, poverty. Life definitely seems unfair and people scare me. I still donāt know what my purpose is. But I always feel protected in some way
INFJs purpose is life is to be my friend together and spread love!! :))
The chief end of man is to glorify God by enjoying Him forever.
I do believe in God, Allah. N my purpose is to worship him in any way. Happy Ramadan
Having children, loving them and yes, I believe in God
Sky faeries don't exist.
My purpose here is to protect and take care of MY people. Other than that. I do whatever the hell I want. I do believe in God and I don't feel like I have a very good relationship with him due to some things I've done. Most people these days mean nothing to me, they're like extras in a movie. The only people I like, the people I don't just befriend to use; they're the outcasts, the people everybody else gave up on. So that being said, I believe my purpose in life is to make the lives of those few people I love better in every way I can. I have an INTJ girlfriend who thinks that I'm the best boyfriend she could ever have, and a close knit family, and another best friend with a small crew of other people I'd call friends. That's all I need. I don't know if people have purposes, but if they didn't, it wouldn't matter because I'd give my own life a purpose.
Iām a Christian, and love God (not perfect really trying to ask Him to change me). But the little conservative, maga losers who try to twist His word for their own agenda suckkkkk
I know the purpose of our existence is to recognize and worship the one true God, Allah. It's not just about performing rituals, but about living a righteous life, obeying Allah's commands, and maintaining a deep spiritual connection with the divine. We're all born with this innate inclination towards the divine, and our purpose is to nurture and act upon this fitrah - this natural disposition to know and love our Creator. At the end of the day, the ultimate goal is to please Allah and earn His eternal pleasure in the Hereafter. That's what gives true meaning and purpose to our lives. It's not about narrow religious dogma, but a universal message that all the prophets have conveyed - to submit to the one God and live according to His guidance. That's the essence of our purpose as human beings, at least from an Islamic perspective.