Purpose Driven Life Day 30: Shaped for Serving God

Isaiah 43:21
The people I formed for Myself
that they may proclaim My praise.

You were shaped to serve God.
Before God created me, He decided what role He wanted me to play on earth. He planned exactly how He wanted me to serve Him, and then He shaped me for those tasks. I am God's handcrafted work of art. I am custom-designed, one-of-a-kind, original masterpiece.

Psalm 139:13-14
For You created my inmost being; 
You knit me together in my mother's womb. 
I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Your works are wonderful, I know that full well.

Nothing that happens in our life is insignificant. God uses all of it to mold us for our ministry to others and shape us for our service to Him. God never wastes anything. He would not give us abilities, interests, talents, gifts, personality and life experiences unless He intended to use them for His glory.

How God shapes You for your ministry
Spiritual gifts
Heart
Abilities
Personalities
Experiences

SHAPE: Unwrapping Your Spiritual Gifts
Spiritual gifts are special God-empowered abilities for serving Him that are given only to believers.

1 Corinthians 2:14
The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.

Because God loves variety and He wants us to be special, no single gift is given to everyone. Also, no individual receives all the gifts. Our spiritual gifts were not given for our own benefit but for the benefit of others, just as other people were given gifts for our benefits.

1 Corinthians 12:7
Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.

God planned it this way so we would need each other. When we use our gifts together, we all benefit.

2 common problems:
1. Gift-envy
We compare our gifts with others', feel dissatisfied with what God gave us and become resentful or jealous of how God uses others.

2. Gift-projection
We expect everyone else to have our gifts, do what we are called to do, and feel as passionate about it as we do.

1 Corinthians 12:5
There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord.

Sometimes spiritual gifts are overemphasized to the neglect of the other factors God uses to shape us for service. Our gifts reveal one key to discovering God's will for our ministry, but our spiritual gifts are not the total picture. God has shaped us in 4 other areas, too.

SHAPE: Listening to Your Heart
The Bible uses the term heart to describe the bundle of desires, hopes, interests, ambitions, dreams and affections we have. Our heart represents the source of all our motivations - what we love to do and what we care about most.

Proverbs 27:19
As water reflects a face,
so a man's heart reflects the man.

Our heart reveals the real us - what we truly are, not what others think we are, or what circumstances force us to be. Our heart determines why we say the things we do and why we feel the way we do and why we act the way we do.

God has given each of us a unique emotional 'thumb print'/'heartbeat' that races when we think about the subjects, activities, or circumstances that interest us. We instinctly care about some things and not about others. These are clues to where we should be serving. Our emotional heartbeat is the 2nd key to understanding our shape for service. 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 us to serve Him passionately, not dutifully. People rarely excel at tasks they don't enjoy doing or feel passionate about. God wants us to use our natural interests to serve Him and others. Listening for inner promptings can point to the ministry God intends for us to have.

How do you know when you are serving God from your heart?
1. Enthusiasm 
When we are doing what we love, no one has to motivate/challenge/check up on us. We do it for the sheer enjoyment.

2. Effectiveness
Whenever we do what God wired us to love to do, we get good at it. Passion drives perfection.

Proverbs 15:16
Better a little with the fear of the Lord than great wealth with turmoil.

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

Points to ponder: I was shaped for serving God.

Verse to remember: 1 Corinthians 12:6
There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men.

Question to consider:
In what way can I see myself passionately serving others and loving it?
Medical missionary
Pediatric
Discipleship/Accountability