Day 30 - Shaped For Serving God
You were shaped to serve God…
God created every person with a unique “shape” for serving God. There is no one else with your unique design and given your specific gifts. You are special to God, and a gift to the rest of us…
We spend our lives looking for where we belong, and what our purpose is and we sometimes miss the fact that God planned for us and shaped us for something. We are his “workmanship, created for good works in Christ Jesus.” Eph. 2:10. The word “workmanship” comes from the same Greek word word translated “poem” We are a handcrafted poem of God’s design, created as a work of art. Have you ever thought of yourself this way? As God’s work of art…beautifully crafted with an expert design, a created “one of a kind” person. Wow… now that is a great way to build a little “self esteem” isn’t it? But that’s not all, he’s not finished yet…
God doesn’t waste those beautifully handcrafted gifts he has put inside of you. You were “shaped” to fit a special place in His Kingdom. Like a master artist who says, ” I see this sculpture being placed here…. for all to see..” You are shaped to serve God.
In our reading Rick Warren uses the word SHAPE as an acronym.
Spiritual Gifts
Heart
Abilities
Personality
Experience
We are learning to see and “unwrap” our spiritual gifts. Every believer is given gifts that are special God-empowered abilities. These are things that you cannot earn or somehow manufacture. They are imprinted on your DNA as a child of God and intended to be used for God’s glory and purpose. You do not get to choose what gifts you have. They are distributed as the Holy Spirit desires. No one person has all the gifts and God planned it this way so we would need each other. When we used the gifts God gives us we all benefit. If you don’t use the gift, then, in reality, you are cheating us!
We learn about our gifts by listening to our heart. Our heart is that bundle of desires, passions, emotions, hopes, ambitions , dreams and affections that we have. The heart is the real part of you, and what you really are, not what other people think of you.. Many times we get the voice of our heart silenced by criticism, doubt, fear and “unfair” things that happen to us that cause us much pain. We struggle to listen to our heart and what really motivates us, what passions we have, what “turns us on” in regards to things we would love to do and things we could really get excited about.
The fact is our heart is the place God speaks to us, and has placed special gifts that have been there for some time… think about it… when you were little, what types of interests were really strong in your life.. do you even remember them? Those came from God. Maybe we get older, more beat up in the world and learn to be satisfied with “second best” because our dreams feel so far away and we think we cannot even begin to achieve them now. Here’s the good news though..God wants to awaken that sleeping giant of a gift and let you go to work using it!
We will look at what the letters A - P - E represent in tomorrow’s reading.
Be encouraged though.. don’t waste your life doing things that you don’t like to do and do not use the gifts God has given to you to use. It’s a waste of time and energy. We can find the spiritual gifts that maybe have been dormant and learn to listen to our hearts. God has put it in you and it’s never too late!