Book Review: The Purpose Driven Life Expanded Edition

Ephesians 2:10 is one of my favorite verses to preach on. It says, “for we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works which God prepared in advance for us to do.” I’m fond of saying “You were created by God on purpose, for a purpose, so live on purpose.” If I had to sum up Purpose Driven Life in one sentence, that would be it. In this re-imagining of Rick Warren’s classic, his goal is to help people discover and live out their God-given purpose. As you can imagine this has always struck a chord with me.

Originally released ten years ago this book is a masterpiece. It’s sold over 32 million copies worldwide making it the best-selling non-fiction hardback in history (besides the Bible). In it’s pages,after looking at our lives and our relationship with God, Warren breaks down five purposes God has for each of our lives. Purpose #1: You Were Planned for God’s Pleasure (Worship), Purpose #2: You Were Formed for God’s Family (Fellowship), Purpose #3: You Were Created to Become Like Christ (Discipleship), Purpose #4: You Were Shaped for Serving God (Ministry) and Purpose #5: You Were Made for a Mission (Mission). He then painstakingly breaks these down into 40 daily readings designed to draw the reader closer to God and God’s mission. The stuff in these pages is gold. The back ofthe book is filled with study questions making this not just a great devotional but a wonderful small group resource as well.

So how do you improve on a classic? Well for starters, Warren added two new chapters to the end of the book on two traps that will seriously keep you off your purpose: envy (comparison) and being a people pleaser. For my audience of Christian creatives, these chapters will be especially poignant.

Warren also taps into technology with the book. Each chapter now comes with a QR code linked to a short video in which Warren highlights the main point of the chapter. Each chapter also ends with a link to a message from Rick Warren on the topic of the chapter. These resources alone make the book worth purchasing again. Here’s a sample. http://www.purposedriven.com/day41

This is a book that should be in every believer’s library. It’s a classic,beautifully brought up to date and a must read for every one who wants to live “on-purpose.”

I got my advance copy from booksneeze.com.