Kwanzaa is an African American celebration of community, family, and culture that helps us to reconnect with our African roots. With 2019 being declared the Year of Return in Ghana, celebrating Kwanzaa this year is all the more special for our community.
Centered around family and community, Kwanzaa is celebrated every year from December 26th – January 1st.. There are 7 days in the celebration of Kwanzaa:
- Umoja (Unity)
- Kujichagulia (Self-Determination)
- Ujima (Collective Work and Responsibility)
- Ujamaa (Cooperative Economics)
- Nia (Purpose)
- Kuumba (Creativity)
- Imani (Faith)
Purpose is defined as “the reason for which something exists or is done, made, used, etc.”
The Nia principle is meant for people to define themselves and figure out their why.
Purpose in Your Life
One of my favorite books is The Purpose Driven Life. I read and worked through it when I was in college, but over 20 years later, I think I’m going to read it again. We grow up and we change…for the better. We grow, make progress, and help those coming behind us. We’re not here to just occupy space. We all have a reason for being. Our lives…and the lives of those around us…are better when we realize that and live in it.
I got married and, supposedly, had a clearer idea of my goals. My life was going to be so beautiful. I finally had a man, I was going to have 4 children, and a great career that I loved; my husband was going to provide for all of our needs and make his way up the corporate ladder. We would have a big house and life would be roses and sunshine. I love roses.
Also, I was wrong.
Eight years into this amazing marriage, I’m childless, working part-time from home, living on less than half the income we enjoyed for the first 4 years of marriage. Our house is old, I’m getting fatter…and finding more gray hairs everyday.
But I’m not wrong when I say that I have a beautiful life.
I identified as what I thought I should be. Define your purpose in life by a need, not a want. I learned the hard way that my purpose is based in who Christ wants me to be.
Purpose in Your Marriage
Simultaneously, both the easiest and hardest thing for people to recognize in a covenant marriage is that it’s not about them. The purpose of marriage is for it to be an earthly representation of the marriage between Christ and His bride, the Church. All of the things that He sacrificed for her are the same things that we’re to sacrifice for our spouse. If you marry with anything other than a servant’s heart and an agape outlook, you’re relationship is starting out on unstable foundations…
Another favorite book is A Woman of Strength and Purpose. This book helped me to refocus my will and desires to what would best serve those around me, specifically my husband and our family. The only thing we can know for sure is that life is going to have plot twists. The manuscript is going to go off the rails sometimes. No matter those changes, your purpose in covenant marriage is still the same. You are to love and serve your spouse with an agape heart because that will allow you to live in a marriage that is reflective of the relationship that exists between Christ and the Church. Too many times, the only Jesus that people will see is you…and how you interact with your spouse.
Serving is Your First Purpose
As Christians, our mission is to serve others. As Christian wives, it is to serve Jesus and our husband. It may not necessarily be on your hands and knees in the dirt, but we are to serve others. Galatians 5:13 reminds us “You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh ; rather, serve one another humbly in love.”
- Responsibility: love your spouse, as Christ loved us {1 John 3:16-18}
- Burden: forgive your spouse, as He forgives us {Colossians 3:13}
- Gift: give grace, as you’ve been given it {1 Peter 4:8}
- Task: help and support your spouse, in agape love {Galatians 6:2}
How do you do those things? Find it within the gifts you’ve been given in this life. Fortunately for me, one of my gifts is that of talking, and I have the privilege to serve you through this ministry. As we prepare to go into the new year, I pray that you discover your purpose and live it out in love.
Need a way to make this practical? Click here for the Principles of Kwanzaa for a Beautiful Relationship Workbook; you can use it to work through simple, applicable exercises each day of the celebration.
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