Day Thirty: Shaped for Serving God

What has helpful to you in the reading today?

It is encouraging to know that God gives us particular gifts and a special heart when it comes to serving him. God wants us to serve him, but he has some unique ways for us to make a difference in the world in his Name - through the special way he has crafted us. Sometimes we wonder our differences are what will make us weird - but God says that it is what makes us unique and positioned to change the world for good.

A bunch of years ago I went through a period of self-loathing. I despised myself, my talents, my personality, my weight, my interests, etc. It was a miserable time for me. I wanted to be somebody else. I was convinced that being me was not enough, that if I wanted to make a REAL difference in the world, I'd have to be transformed into a different kind of person. This chapter was instrumental to me in calming down, in accepting myself, and trusting that God could use even me to make a difference in the world for good.

Here's some of the stuff that was helpful to me, maybe it will be helpful to you:

The Bible says, "We are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works." Our English word poem comes form the Greek word translated "workmanship." You are God's handcrafted work of art. You are not an assembly-line product, mass produced without thought. You are a custom-designed, one-of-a-kind, original masterpiece.

This is a really important truth:

God never wastes anything. He would not give you abilities, interests, talents, gifts, personality, and life experiences unless he intended to use them for his glory. By identifying and understanding these factors you can discover God's will for your life. The Bible says you are "wonderfully complex." You are a combination of many different factors.

A helpful tool for thinking through the ways you serve...

Whenever God gives you an assignment, he always equips us with what we need to accomplish it. This custom combination of capabilities is called your SHAPE:
Spiritual Gifts
Heart
Abilities
Personality
Experience

When it comes to your Spiritual Gifts...

God gives every believer spiritual gifts to be used in ministry. These are special God-empowered abilities for serving him that are given only to believers. The Bible says, "Whoever does not have the Spirit cannot receive the gifts that come from God's Spirit."

Your spiritual gifts were not given for your own benefit but for the benefit of others, just as other people were given gifts for your benefit. The Bible says, "A spiritual gift is given to each of us as a means of helping the entire church."

When it comes to your Heart...

The Bible uses the term heart to describe the bundle of desires, hopes, interests, ambitions, dreams, and affections you have. Your heart represents the source of all your motivations - what you love to do and what you care about most.

The Bible says, "As a face is reflected in water, so the heart reflects the person." Your heart reveals the real you - what you truly are, now what others think you are or what circumstances force you to be. Your heart determines why you say the things you do, why you feel the way you do, and why you act the way you do.

Another word for heart is passion. There are certain subjects you feel passionate about and others you couldn't care less about. Some experiences turn you on and capture your attention while others turn you off or bore you to tears. These reveal the nature of your heart.

Don't ignore your interests. Consider how they might be used for God's glory. There is a reason that you love to do these things. Repeatedly the Bible says to "serve the Lord with all your heart." God wants you to serve him passionately, not dutifully.

People rarely excel at tasks they don't enjoy doing or feel passionate about. God wants you to use your natural interests to serve him and others. Listening for inner promptings can point to the ministry God intends for you to have.

How do you know when you are serving God from your heart? The first telltale sign is enthusiasm. When you are doing what you love to do, no one has to motivate you or challenge you or check up on you. You do it for the sheer enjoyment. The opposite is also true: When you don't have a heart for what you are doing, you are easily discouraged.

The second characteristic of serving God from your heart is effectiveness. Whenever you do what God wired you to love to do, you get good at it. Passion drives perfection. If you don't care about a task, it is unlikely that you will excel at it. In contrast, the highest achievers in any field are those who do it because of passion, not duty or profit.

This is excellent wisdom:

Figure out what you love to do - and what God gave you a heart to do - and then do it for his glory.

Do you know what your spiritual gifts are? Have you ever listed out what you have a passion for? Do it!