"What you are is God's gift to you; what you do with yourself is your gift to God. Danish proverb
God deserves your best. He shaped you for a purpose, and he expects you to make the most of what you have been given.
The best use of your life is to serve God out of your shape.....learn to accept and enjoy it, and develop it to its fullest potential. Don't let another day go by. Start finding out and clarifying what God intends for you to be and do.
Ask questions like these; Where have I seen fruit in my life that other people confirmed? Where have I already been successful?
The best way to discover your gifts and abilities is to experiment with different areas of service. Until you are actually involved in serving, you're not going to know what you're good at.
What do I really enjoy doing the most? When do I feel the most fully alive? What am I doing when I loose track of time?
We rarely see God's good purpose in pain or failure or embarrassment while it is happening. Only in hindsight do we understand how God intended a problem for good. Extracting the lessons from your experiences takes time.
Your shape was sovereignly determined by God for his purpose, so you shouldn't resent it or reject it.
Part of accepting your shape is recognizing your limitations. Nobody is good at everything, and no one is called to be everything. The word boundaries refers to the fact that God assigns each of us a field or sphere of service. Your shape determines your speciality.
"run with patience the particular race that God has set before us." Don't be envious of the runner in the lane next to you; just focus on finishing your race. The Bible warns us never to compare ourselves with others: "Do your own work well, and then you will have something to be proud of. But don't compare yourself with others."
"in all this comparing and grading and competing, they quite miss the point."
"if my life is fruitless, it doesn't matter who praises me, and if my life is fruitful. it doesn't matter who criticizes me."
We are to cultivate our gifts and abilities, keep our hearts aflame, grow our characher and personality, and broaden our experiences so we will be increasingly more effective in our service. Use the ability you've got and God will increase it. Don't settle for a half-developed gift. Stretch yourself and learn all you can. Take advantage of every training opportunity to develop your shape and sharpen your serving skills."
PDL Chapter #32
I'm good at listening to people and sorting through what they say. This is why I'm good at sales. I'm a good baker and never found more joy at work, than when I was in a bakery, but I couldn't make a living at it. I recognize that I am a servant leader. In many group settings, people look to me for leadership. I've always assumed that that was because I cared about the group, but had no ego desire to lead it. So, I've got a lot of areas to sort through and see what God wants me to be doing.
This comment was posted by Doug Eshelman:
ReplyDeleteWhat you do with yourself is your gift to God: that is a motivating concept to keep in focus; asking other people for their candid opinion: need to think Who knows me well and how I would value their opinion - Wife or workmate; just start serving - don't try to figure out your gifts before volunteering: good advice which I'd like to think i have followed up on; what am i doing when I lose track of time: really good gauge for determining you gift -