Why Your Life Needs a Mission Statement

Best-selling author Debbie Macomber shares how you can simplify your life and focus on your true purpose.

Debbie Macomber

“I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.”—Genesis 12:2 (NIV)

I’ve been a member of the Guideposts Positive Thinkers Club for a long time.  Many years ago, Ruth Stafford Peale wrote about simplifying our lives. The first step in making that leap is to determine what is really important to each one of us. One way to accomplish this is to create a mission statement.

I’d been thinking about creating such a statement for a long while, but I had put it off. I’d toyed with a number of ideas, but they felt clumsy and wordy. When I’m stuck, what sometimes works best for me is to put things aside and let the Lord direct me.

It shouldn’t come as any surprise, but I found the answer in my Bible. I was reading Genesis 12, where God makes His covenant with Abram. God tells Abram that He will make him into a great nation and that He will bless him. The last part of verse 2 was what caught my eye: “You will be a blessing.” I read those words twice as they gripped hold of my heart. This was my mission statement, simple, profound and direct.

Thank You, heavenly Father, for directing my path and showing me how You want me to live.

Share this story

A Journey of FaitH

Embark on a moving journey of faith as Edward Grinnan, Guideposts’ Editor-in-Chief, shares his inspiring memoir on navigating his mother’s Alzheimer’s and conquering his own fear. A blessing for those facing trials.

Read More and Order

Community Newsletter

Get More Inspiration Delivered to Your Inbox

Donate to change a life together
Scroll to Top