This post is part of our "Purpose Driven Life" book study, the first official Christian Boylove Forum book study. If you do not own the book, you can read the first few chapters for free here: http://www.purposedrivenlife.com/en-US/AboutUs/AboutTheBook/FirstSevenChapters.htm

We are in this Earth, but we are not to be of this Earth. We all know the bible says it, but how difficult it can be to remember that sometimes. So often we find ourselves yearning for acceptance or success in a world that isn't our home.

I have had to teach this lesson to children before and they don't really know what ambassadors are, so I like to use the example of spies. Being a kid at heart, I like that example better myself. We are like spies for the Kingdom of Heaven sent to Earth on a special mission to get more of the enemy to join our side. We each have our own special assignments, but unlike ordinary spies and saboteurs, they never involve destroying, but rather: helping, rebuilding, and healing. Ultimately we are here in service of his Majesty's Kingdom. We can't allow ourselves to lose track of that and wind up becoming one of the enemy. We can't give up the kingdom and join the world. What does that really mean though? I think it means something different for each of us depending on the stage of life we are in and the temptations and challenges that we face. For me, it means that I can't be someone who goes to church on Sunday morning pretending I didn't make a drunken fool of myself at the bar last night. It means that when people are in my life who would encourage me to go down that route, they are in my life so that I might lead them to a better way, not so that they can lead me away from the kingdom.

Personally, I have to admit I do suck at this sometimes. Sometimes I really do lose track and follow the world a lot further than I should. Other times I try to find a balance as if there is some point of equilibrium where the good and the bad cancel each other out, but of course that's just not how things work. This is definitely a struggle, but it helps to remember I'm not a citizen of Earth, I'm a citizen of heaven sent on temporary assignment to Earth, I am a special agent on a mission and the mission is what matters most.

Studying this chapter, one other thing really jumped out at me. In page 50 (of whichever edition it is I have), Rick Warren says:

"In order to keep us from becoming too attached to Earth, God allows us to feel a significant amount of discontent and dissatisfaction with life--longings that will never be fulfilled on this side of eternity".

That's quite a bold statement in a world where so many Christians are led into false beliefs about how God wants you to live your best life now. In a world rife with churches teaching God wants you to have wealth, prosperity and happiness today, it's quite bold to say you will never have that until after you die. But I think I agree, God doesn't want you to have your best life now, he wants the next life to be the best life.

Rick Warren's statement can really hit home for us as Boylovers; the longing for feelings and relationships we will never have on this Earth. So often, we like to think of ourselves as unique in that struggle; we assume that what we feel is unlike anything those who aren't BL have to live with. Yet here we see that not only is this something common, but it may well be part of the human condition. We long for feelings and relationships that we may never have, companions we will probably never find. Yet we're not so different from non-BLs after all. It's part of the common human experience. Of course we have longings we will never have fulfilled this side of eternity, but this side isn't the only side there is. In the next life, all our longings will be fulfilled.

to participate actively in the book study, feel free to respond to this post or to any of the questions Cat or anyone else posts below. You don't necessarily need to respond to what is written on this post, you may prefer instead to talk about the parts of the chapter that spoke to you even if it wasn't something mentioned on this post. You may also pose your own discussion questions.