As we think about finding and living our purpose on planet Earth, we need to rethink much of what the world teaches us. The world insists that “bigger is better,” “more is mightier,” and “success is measured by size,” yet God tells us that those things are rarely important to him. It turns out, it’s not the “big” things the world celebrates but the smallest acts of kindness from the heart that seem to matter most to God. Jesus told us this exact truth two thousand years ago:
But when the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit upon his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered in his presence. . . .
Then the King will say to those on his right, “Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world. For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.”
Then these righteous ones will reply, “Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you?
Or thirsty and give you something to drink? Or a stranger and show you hospitality? Or naked and give you clothing? When did we ever see you sick or in prison and visit you?”
And the King will say, “I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!”
Matthew 25:31-32, 34-40
The Small Acts of Kindness That Matter Most to God
It’s the little acts of kindness that count most. In fact, those acts done to help someone in need, to encourage the heartbroken, to lighten a burden, or just to lend a listening ear—all these seemingly unimportant kindnesses that no one sees and that will never make the news—turn out to be central to what God created us first and foremost to do, and they are what he rewards. We make a grave mistake when we go about our days thinking we are fulfilling our purpose by doing great big important things if we miss the small things that matter most to God—the things he says are central to our purpose in life.
Rethinking Success and Our God-Given Purpose
Steve Sjogren was accomplishing large-scale, important things for God. He had started and grown a servant-minded church to six thousand attendees through motivating people to practice “acts of kindness,” and he had authored a bestselling book on the subject. “As a pastor, I wanted to have one of the largest churches in America,” Steve says. “Everything I did went toward reaching that goal. For me, having a successful ministry wasn’t everything; it was the only thing.”1 You would think building a “big, successful ministry” to serve thousands of people and inspiring them to serve thousands more would hit the bull’s-eye of God’s purpose-filled-life target. Yet, Steve learned that there was much more to God’s purpose for his life. When his gallbladder surgery went terribly wrong, severing his aorta and causing his heart to stop for seven minutes, Steve floated with God above the operation. He recalls,
While people ran around like crazy, I continued my peaceful conversation with God. We did not communicate just with words, but also with memories and images. God let me know how much He valued me. It’s almost impossible to describe the perfect sense of acceptance that surrounded me, yet even in the midst of this very personal embrace, part of me knew that not everything in my life had matched what God had intended for me. . . .
I was hovering over the operating table as close to the ceiling as I could get without actually leaving the room. The doctors were in emergency mode and God was calmly quizzing me.
“Do you know the names of your children’s friends?” He asked. I couldn’t list a single one! I was caught dead to rights.
The realization struck me like a bolt of lightning. I hadn’t taken the time to get to know my children’s best friends These friends often visited our house. They were always welcome, but I was anything but hospitable. When they came, I was usually fixated on one project or another. Many times, I just wasn’t there. My job was important, after all.
While working hard is good, being totally immersed in work to the point of excluding family members is a fatal error.2
It’s Not Just What You Do, but How You Do It
It’s not just what you do, but how you do it that matters. How you treat the people you interact with—beginning with family and friends, then including employees, coworkers, neighbors, and even strangers—matters most to God. So we have to reverse the order of importance from the world’s view of success to God’s view. And that’s difficult.
What Greatness Looks Like in God’s Economy
God’s way of defining greatness is the opposite of what the world teaches us. Whoever wants to be greatest in God’s economy must become what appears smallest in the world’s economy. Success is not being a big CEO or a famous musician, or inventing the next world-changing gadget or AI model to be celebrated by others—success is serving people. It’s not the great big, showy titles or the “newsworthy” accomplishments or the size of the organization you run; it’s how you serve the people you interact with in whatever you do.
When Ministry Success Becomes the Measure of Purpose
Now, let me take a time-out for a confession. I’ve always been a very driven, type A achiever. Steve Sjogren and I had a lot in common as pastors leading large churches. And when I first heard Steve’s near-death experience (NDE), I was mad at God, confused, and I took it very personally. My conversation with God went something like this: “Are you kidding, Lord? The past twenty years of labor mean nothing to you? Starting a church in our home, inviting skeptics, doubters, strugglers to ‘come as you are’ and explore faith—all the blood, sweat, and tears shed in leading this church to see thousands of people find faith and overcome addictions, abuse, and depression mean nothing? I could have worked any job, loved my family and neighbors well, and fulfilled my purpose?”
Does God Care About Our Hard Work and Accomplishments?
Maybe you have similar thoughts. Perhaps you’re a CEO or entrepreneur who has built an enterprise (or aspires to do so), or you have relentlessly focused your time and energy toward serving your country, or maybe you’ve just worked hard with your talents and are wondering, Does God not care about my hard work and the difference I’m making? I’ve discovered the answer is: He does care. Your purpose is multifaceted, and it involves all of you—your gifts, resources, and hard work—and for some, it includes leading large organizations or accomplishing newsworthy endeavors.
The How and Why Behind Living Your Purpose
But it’s important to remember that it’s not just what you do, but how and why you do all you do that matters. Is it to serve God and help people? Or just to be in the pole position of honor with a bigger ego? Steve Sjogren was fulfilling part of his purpose, leading a church to do much good, but he was missing part of the how and why that God wanted him to confront and adjust.
- Steve Sjogren, The Day I Died: An Unforgettable Story of Life After Death (Baker Publishing Group, 2006), 44.
- Sjogren, The Day I Died, 30, 94–95.
Adapted from Imagine Your Purpose from Heaven: Near-Death Experiences, God’s Plan, and the Reason You Are Here by John Burke, releasing from Tyndale House Publishers in November 2026.
