How To Live With Purpose Like Jesus

About this Episode

How To Live With Purpose Like Jesus is the topic that will be discussed today on RIOT Podcast, a Christian Discipleship Podcast.


In Luke 1:35, Mary understood that the child she held was set apart from any other child that had been born. She knew what the angel had told her and what was confirmed in her heart was true. “Here at my breast is the Son of God.” Those were the very words, the very designation, the angel had given: Son of God.

The primary reason Jesus came to earth was to perform a rescue mission. Jesus not only came to rescue us from our sins so that we can have eternal life, but He also came to help establish a firm foundation for how we are supposed to live with purpose in our daily lives.

Today, we are going to discuss 5 key focal points Jesus put all of His attention on while living on this earth.

1. Jesus focused on Equipping and Discipling Believers
From the beginning, Jesus told the disciples that He would make them into something different: “Come, follow me and I will make you fishers of men” (Matthew 4:19).

Their occupation of catching fish changed into a mission of fishing for people. Each step along the way, Jesus taught them to share with others, connect people to God, and minister to those who were in need.

2. Jesus focused on Assisting the Poor
Jesus cared deeply about the poor and the downtrodden, demonstrating his compassion in tangible ways: in Matthew 25 when Jesus describes the actions of those welcomed into his Father’s kingdom: He said “For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me. Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me” (Matthew 25:35-36, 40).

3. Jesus focused on healing to the sick
As with look at the healings of Jesus Christ, as recorded in the four gospels, we also discover that Jesus used a number of different ways to heal the infirmed.

The first way we see is Jesus spoke a word and they were healed: Jesus told him, “You may go. Your eyes are healed because of your faith.” Right away the man could see, and he went down the road with Jesus (Mark 10:52 CEV).

The second thing we find is Jesus touched people to heal them: He took her by the hand, and the fever left her. Then she got up and served Jesus a meal Matthew 8:15.

Another thing that happened with Jesus is that people touched Jesus’ garment and were healed: And when the men of that place recognized Jesus, they sent word to all the surrounding country. People brought all their sick to him and begged him to let the sick just touch the edge of his cloak, and all who touched him were healed Matthew 14:35-36.

4. Jesus focused on reaching the next generation
In the first century, children had little to no rights. Often seen as a nuisance, they were tolerated but not welcome. In Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus spoke out against those who pushed children to the sidelines while drawing them near to Himself.

In Mark 10:13-14, It says And they were bringing children to him that he might touch them, and the disciples rebuked them. But when Jesus saw it, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the Kingdom of God.”

In Mark’s Gospel, Jesus actually took a child in his arms, commissioning others to welcome children in a similar way. In Mark 9:35-37, He sat down and called the twelve. And he said to them, “If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.” And he took a child and put him in the midst of them, and taking him in his arms, he said, “Whoever receives such a child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me, receives not me but him who sent me.”

5. Jesus focused on Planting and Building Churches
Virtually all the great evangelistic challenges of the New Testament are basically calls to plant churches, not simply to share the faith. The ‘Great Commission (Matt.28: 18-20)is not just a call to ‘make disciples but to ‘baptize’.

In Acts and elsewhere, it is clear that baptism means incorporation into a worshipping community with accountability and boundaries (cf. Acts 2:41-47). The only way to be truly sure you are increasing the number of Christians in a town is to increase the number of churches.