Week 1: Preface & Chapter 1 — My Search for a Single Passion to Live By

1.Piper describes his younger self as someone who desperately wanted 'one passion' to give his life to, but struggled for years to identify what that was. Can you relate to that struggle? What has functioned as your defining passion up to this point?

2.He traces his intellectual and spiritual formation through teachers like C.S. Lewis and professors at Wheaton and Fuller, noting how each pushed him toward a vision of God's glory as the supreme reality. What people, books, or moments have most shaped your own vision of what life is for?

3.Piper coins the phrase 'Christian Hedonism' — the idea that God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him. In your own words, what does he mean by this? Does it strike you as obviously true, surprising, or even troubling? Why?

4.He argues that the pursuit of joy in God is not selfish but is in fact the most selfless thing a person can do, because a person who is truly satisfied in God is freed from using other people to meet their own needs. Do you find that argument convincing? Where does your own life confirm or challenge it?

5.The title of the book, *Don't Waste Your Life*, carries urgency. Piper implies that wasting your life is entirely possible — even for serious Christians. What does a 'wasted life' look like in your imagination? Have you ever feared that your life might be heading in that direction?

6.Piper quotes Philippians 1:21 — 'For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain' — as the kind of singular, all-in commitment he is after. What would it look like, concretely, for that verse to be the operating system of your daily life rather than just a verse you admire?

7.How does the opening chapter set the tone for the rest of the book? What questions does Piper seem to be promising he will answer, and which of those questions are you most eager to pursue?