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You keep asking God what you’re supposed to do with your life. What if that isn’t the first question?

This book began as one page for my eldest son the week he left for college. It asks one question before the question everyone asks. Not what you are supposed to do, but WHO you are supposed to know.

Front cover of The Forgotten Purpose by Jesse Orrico.
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One question, held for ten chapters.

Not more advice. Not a verse on a card.
Something a person could keep and come back to, something that still holds at two in the morning when a friend asks what you actually believe and why.

And this is eternal life: that they know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent.

John 17:3
What the book contains

Chapter 1 The Blank Chapter

My eldest son, Johnmarc, was headed off to college, and I wanted to give him something.

That is as close as I can get to what I felt at the time. Something. I could not have named its shape then, and I am not certain I can now.

Chapter One · The Blank Chapter

Read the whole first chapter. No payment, no account, no email.

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Who this is for.

Students. High school and college, at the age Johnmarc was when this book began.

Parents. Raising children inside the same question this book answers, with more rules pressing in than peace.

Small groups and Bible studies. A chapter a week reads like a record, and it ends at the Father, not at the author.

Anyone seeking purpose. For anyone asking what their life is for, or who cannot yet define the purpose of life.

The editions.

  • Digital edition

    $10.00 plus applicable tax

    EPUB and accessible PDF, delivered immediately.

    Choose the digital edition
  • Ebook and workbook bundle

    $24.00 plus applicable tax

    The digital edition and companion workbook together for less, delivered immediately.

    Choose this bundle
  • Companion workbook

    $14.99 plus applicable tax

    One fillable, print-friendly PDF, delivered immediately.

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  • Small-group leader book

    $14.99 plus applicable tax

    One fillable, print-friendly PDF for the person leading, delivered immediately.

    Choose the leader book

Compare every edition, including the ones that cannot be bought yet.

Also made.

  • Front cover of The Forgotten Purpose by Jesse Orrico.
    The paperback.
  • A blank leather journal carrying the mark.
    The blank journal.
  • A mug carrying the mark.
    The mug.
  • A cream shirt laid flat, carrying the mark at the chest.
    The shirt.
  • A pen carrying the mark.
    The pen.

No recorded difference is awaiting review.

Store opens shop.forgottenpurpose.com, leaves this site

Jesse’s story.

“I wrote this first for my sons. If you are not one of them, you are welcome to it all the same — it was never meant to be private.”

Jesse’s story. How one page for a son leaving for college became this book.