With so much emphasis on finding your life purpose or mission in life, have you ever wondered what the Bible has to say about life purpose? It turns out God has plenty to say in Scripture about His purpose and plan for each person. Not only that, He tells us in His Word that He directs us to walk in that purpose and equips us for all we need to live it!
The following is a compilation of Scripture from both the Old Testament and New Testament which tell us that God has a purpose and plan for each individual. May these verses encourage you to discover your life purpose and to live it every day of the life He’s given you!
Verses from the Old Testament about God’s Purpose for Us
I have let you live for this purpose: to show you my power and to make my name known on the whole earth. (Exodus 9:16 CSB)
May he give you what your heart desires and fulfill your whole purpose. (Psalm 20:4 CSB)
But I trust in you, Lord; I say, “You are my God.” The course of my life is in your power. (Psalm 31:14-15a CSB)
A person’s steps are established by the Lord, and he takes pleasure in his way. (Psalm 37:23 CSB)
I cry out to God Most High, to God who fulfills his purpose for me. (Psalm 57:2 CSB)
The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me. Lord, your faithful love endures forever; do not abandon the work of your hands. Psalm 138:8 CSB
For it was you who created my inward parts; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I will praise you because I have been remarkably and wondrously made. Your works are wondrous, and I know this very well. My bones were not hidden from you when I was made in secret, when I was formed in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw me when I was formless; all my days were written in your book and planned before a single one of them began. (Psalm 139:13-16 CSB)
A person’s heart plans his way, but the Lord determines his steps. (Proverbs 16:9 CSB)
Many plans are in a person’s heart, but the Lord’s decree will prevail. (Proverbs 19:21 CSB)
The Lord of Armies has sworn: As I have purposed, so it will be; as I have planned it, so it will happen. (Isaiah 14:24 CSB)
I declare the end from the beginning, and from long ago what is not yet done, saying: my plan will take place, and I will do all my will. I call a bird of prey from the east, a man for my purpose from a far country. Yes, I have spoken; so I will also bring it about. I have planned it; I will also do it. (Isaiah 46:10-11 CSB)
The Lord called me before I was born. He named me while I was in my mother’s womb. (Isaiah 49:1b CSB)
The word of the Lord came to me: I chose you before I formed you in the womb; I set you apart before you were born. I appointed you a prophet to the nations. (Jeremiah 1:4-5 CSB)
I know, Lord, that a person’s way of life is not his own; no one who walks determines his own steps. (Jeremiah 10:23 CSB)
“For I know the plans I have for you“—this is the Lord’s declaration—”plans for your well-being, not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. Jeremiah 29:11 CSB)
But you have not glorified the God who holds your life-breath in his hand and who controls the whole course of your life. (Daniel 5:23b CSB)
Verses from the New Testament about God’s Purpose for Us
For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me. (John 6:38 CSB)
You did not choose me, but I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce fruit and that your fruit should remain, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he will give you. (John 15:16 CSB)
For David, after serving God’s purpose in his own generation, fell asleep, was buried with his fathers, and decayed. (Acts 13:36 CSB)
The Apostle Paul’s Purpose:
“I asked, ‘Who are you, Lord?’
“And the Lord replied: ‘I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting. But get up and stand on your feet. For I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a servant and a witness of what you have seen and will see of me. I will rescue you from your people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a share among those who are sanctified by faith in me.'” (Acts 26:15-18 CSB)
We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God, who are called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28 CSB)
Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God. (Romans 12:2 CSB)
What then is Apollos? What is Paul? They are servants through whom you believed, and each has the role the Lord has given. I planted,Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. (1 Corinthians 3:5-6 CSB)
Let each one live his life in the situation the Lord assigned when God called him. (1 Corinthians 7:17 CSB)
Now there are different gifts, but the same Spirit. There are different ministries, but the same Lord. And there are different activities, but the same God produces each gift in each person. A manifestation of the Spirit is given to each person for the common good. (1 Corinthians 12:4-7 CSB)
But when God, who from my mother’s womb set me apart and called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son in me, so that I could preach him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with anyone. (Galatians 1:15-16 CSB)
In him we have also received an inheritance, because we were predestined according to the plan of the one who works out everything in agreement with the purpose of his will, so that we who had already put our hope in Christ might bring praise to his glory. (Ephesians 1:11-12 CSB)
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time for us to do. (Ephesians 2:10 CSB)
I am sure of this, that he who started a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. (Philippians 1:6 CSB)
For it is God who is working in you both to will and to work according to his good purpose. (Philippians 2:13 CSB)
Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely. And may your whole spirit, soul, and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful; he will do it. (1 Thessalonians 5:23-24 CSB)
He has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began. (2 Timothy 1:9 CSB)
Now in a large house there are not only gold and silver vessels, but also those of wood and clay; some for honorable use and some for dishonorable [common use]. (2 Timothy 2:20 CSB)
Therefore, since we also have such a large cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us lay aside every hindrance and the sin that so easily ensnares us. Let us run with endurance the race that lies before us, keeping our eyes on Jesus, the source and perfecter of our faith. (Hebrews 12:1-2a CSB)
Now may the God of peace, who brought up from the dead our Lord Jesus—the great Shepherd of the sheep—through the blood of the everlasting covenant, equip you with everything good to do his will, working in us what is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. (Hebrews 13:20-21 CSB)
Just as each one has received a gift, use it to serve others, as good stewards of the varied grace of God. (1 Peter 4:10 CSB)
