Part of me doesn’t care about whether people wish me a happy birthday each year. Everyone has a birthday. It’s just a day like any other. It may be a special day to me, but it’s not to anyone else. Other than my mom, that is.

I was born on my mom’s birthday. My name “Matthew” means “gift of God” in Hebrew. I like to make my wife roll her eyes as I frequently remind people how my presence in their life is gift from God Himself. Only half kidding, but I’ll explain more below. 😉

While I am being truthful that I don’t really care about birthday wishes, there’s a part of me that really does.

I’m not sure if it’s my actual birthday that matters to me as much as I like to know that people care enough about me to go out of their way to tell me to have a good day.

It’s not about a popularity contest. Who would I be competing against? No, I really think it has more to do with my internal desire to want to make an impact on people’s lives. Every once in a while, maybe just once a year, you hear from people you have had some type of impact on over the years. Sure, some of them are acquaintances or people I’ve never even met before. But most are people whom I’ve had some sort of interaction with at some point in my life. And some of them I’ve had the opportunity to have a role in making their lives better in some way.

I think we all want that, don’t we? Don’t you want to know your life actually matters? Don’t you want to know that your life has a purpose?

Most people do. Maybe that’s why Rick Warren’s Purpose Driven Life is the 2^nd best-selling book of all time, 2^nd only to the Bible itself.

I believe we each have a purpose. While we have a common denominator purpose in bringing glory to our Creator, I also believe we each have a purpose that is unique to who you are. That personalized purpose is as unique to you as your own fingerprint.

As we discover our purpose and begin to live out that purpose, we begin to see that our lives truly do matter. God placing you on this earth was not a mistake or an accident. You are a part of His grand plan. You are a part of His masterpiece. You are a piece of one magnificent puzzle.

The tragedy in your life would be to get to the end of it and realize that you lived someone else’s life. You didn’t fulfill your purpose, but pursued something that wasn’t fulfilling and wasn’t something you were talented at.

But if you live out your life in your own personal sweet spot, you will know that the day you were born represents the day that God gave the gift of YOU to others.

You, too, are a gift of God, regardless of whatever your name means in Hebrew! 😉

What I really want for my birthday, or rather, my birth date, is for it to be a positive day for the history books. What I want for my birth date is that it would be remembered as a day that the world became a better place.

I want my life to matter. More than any physical gift or any kind words of encouragement on Facebook, I want to know that my life truly matters.

I know that it does. I hope you know the same. Your life matters. Today is a day that honors the date that God made the world a better place with YOU.

Happy birthday.