Many businesses and organizations consider and adopt a mission statement to keep them focused on what is truly important and to keep them from becoming sidetracked by less important matters, but it is indeed a wise thing for individuals as well to adopt a personal mission statement to keep them focused on what is truly important in life and to turn away attention from other, often less important, matters.
Life is short. Without staying focused, a person may one day have to say that he accomplished a lot of things, none of which have much lasting significance.
I have adopted a personal mission statement and focus for my life. I didn’t write it or come up with it myself. I just adopted it straight out of the pages of the Bible: “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son,and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you....” (Matthew 28:19-20). This mission statement starts at home, with my own family, and then branches out into the world to those I know and to those I have never met and maybe never will in this life.
Yes, I have gotten sidetracked at times - a lot more often than I care to admit - and the result is a lot of busyness and activity in things which really don’t matter much in the long run. For this, I’ve also repeatedly turned to Christ Jesus in repentance and received His forgiveness. Then, instead of continuing to dwell on weaknesses, failures and muchwasted time and energy, I try to put that behind me and get focused again on what my true mission and purpose is in this world.
For those of you who don’t know, my wife and I have more than a few children for whom we have much love and concern - 15 children between us, and 14 grandchildren (counting the two on the way). Like most parents and grandparents, we have good wishes and desires for them all; but our greatest wish and concern for them is not for good health, a good education, a good marriage, a good job or for a happy and relatively trouble-free life. Though we want the best for them all, our foremost wish and desire is thatthey all would know their Maker and Redeemer and live in fellowship with Him, both here in this world and in eternity. If there is one thing we wish we could impart to each of them, it is a knowledge of the LORD God and of the salvation He has provided for them (and for all) through the innocent sufferings, death and resurrection of the Son, Jesus Christ.
That desire extends, of course, to our church and all its members, to those with whom we have contact in our jobs, and to all the nations and peoples of this world. My prayer is that of the psalmist: “Now also when I am old and greyheaded, O God, forsake me not; until I haveshewed thy strength unto this generation, and thy power to every one that is to come” (Psalm 71:18).
Though I may never amount to much in this world, there is one thing that I hope to accomplish before my days here come to an end, and that is to share with my children, their children, my church, and with all who will listen anywhere and everywhere, the truth of God’s Word and the good news of forgiveness and life in the Son.
That is my mission and must remain my focus.
Randy Moll is the managing editor of the Westside Eagle Observer. He may be reached by e-mail at rmoll@nwaonline .com.
Opinion, Pages 6 on 04/13/2011