why.

why.

The question “WHY?” has been coming up a lot these last few weeks. Questions on why I want to be a leader, why I want to be the person that I am, and why am I doing what I am doing.

I’ve given this a lot of thought lately. But as I have given this thought, I have realized the answer is simple.

Jesus Christ is why.

He is the whole reason I live and breathe. He is the reason I do what I do. He is the reason I want to go into the field of Global Health. He is the reason why I want to serve the least of these. He is the reason I keep pushing forward when times get tough or I have mundane tasks to do. He is why.

God calls us to be the hands and feet of Jesus. God has called us to do His work on His behalf. One of my favorite verses is Ephesians 2:10, “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” When I look at this verse, I am reminded to do good works—good works that Jesus Christ would do. We were made in His image, and I want to reflect that the best I can. I want to do the work He would do if He was still walking this earth.

The question of why has been coming up all over the place. It has come in church, in meetings, in conversations, and it also came up in class. Last week, in my leadership class, we were asked what kind of person and leader we want to be known as and why. We had to reflect on our inner self and find the why. But again, that answer was easy to me. As I said in my reflection paper last week:

“I want to be known as a follower of Christ. When people look at me and see me, I want them to see Christ through me. I want His light to shine through me. I want them to see that I strive to follow Christ and to serve Him the best I can in all that I do. I want to be known as a person that loves people and has compassion on all people, no matter who they are. I want to show equality to all people no matter their background, race, religion, or their morals. I want to show the love and compassion of Christ to all people, no matter how they treat me. Luke 6:27-28 says, “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.” That is just what I want to do. I want to love the ones that mistreat me and hurt me, just the same as those who help me. As hard as it may be, I want to be known as a person that prays for those that mistreat me and bless those that treat me wrong. I want to be known as a lover of all people. I want people to see that the core of who I am is Jesus Christ, and He is the reason I do what I do. He is the reason that I work hard on mundane tasks, the reason that I love when it is hard to love, and the reason that I put my best foot forward.”

I say all this to challenge you. I challenge you to find your why. Why do you do what you do? Why do you wake up in the morning? Why do you push through the tough times? And why do you celebrate in the good times?

I challenge you to take some time this week and to search yourself. Find your why. Not only find your why, but reach out to share with someone your why. Maybe you can encourage someone with your why this week.

I pray for you as you seek to find you why and find why you do what you do. I pray that you encourage someone and can speak wisdom into someone’s life this week. I pray that your why encourages someone to find their why.