Sermon Illustrations
Suffering Man Finds Reason to Live
God created humans to live a life of love. In an article in Fast Company magazine that confirmed this truth that we were made to live for others. The article was about a very successful man whom you have probably never heard of: David Kelley. Kelley is the founder of what many regard as the premier design firm in the country—Ideo—and a professor at Stanford University for more than 30 years. He is a creative genius. Unfortunately, at age 56, Kelley discovered a lump on his body, and the doctors told him he had cancer. Linda Tischler writes:
What ensued was sheer hell. Chemo, surgery, radiation. Mouth sores. A throat so raw he could barely swallow. Nausea so severe he couldn't concentrate enough to read or even watch TV. "I spent nine months in a room trying not to throw up," he says. The treatment wrecked his saliva glands and his taste buds. He lost 40 pounds.
Kelley is happily married and has one daughter. This is where the idea of being created for love comes in. As Kelley struggled through the difficult emotions that come with this kind of experience, he discovered his reason to live. Kelley says about his daughter:
At first, you think, "I don't want to miss her growing up." That's motivating, but not that motivating. It's when you manage to get out of yourself and start thinking of her that you get the resolve to continue. When you think, "I don't want her not to have a father"—then you want to stay alive.
What gave Kelley a reason to endure the suffering of his treatment was not the pleasure he would get out of experiencing life with his daughter, as wonderful as that would be. Kelley realized that what truly motivated him was the benefit he could bring to his daughter. What motivated Kelley at the deepest level was selfless sacrifice for another—love. We were made for this.