CREATED FOR SERVING GOD :: 1

The people I have shaped for myself will broadcast my praises.
Isaiah 43:21

You were created to serve God.
God formed every creature on this planet with a special area of expertise.
Some animals run, some hop, some swim, some burrow, and some fly.

Each has a particular role to play, based on the way they were shaped by God.
The same is true with humans. Each of us was uniquely designed, or "created," to do certain things.
Before architects design any new building they first ask, "What will be its purpose? How will it be used?"
The intended function always determines the form of the building.

Before God created you, he decided what role he wanted you to play on earth.
He planned exactly how he wanted you to serve him, and then he shaped you for those tasks.
You are the way you are because you were made for a specific ministry.

The Bible says, "We are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works." Our English word "poem" comes from the Greek word "pomiea" 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, God's original masterpiece.

In Psalms 139, David praised God for this incredible personal attention to detail: "You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother's womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous."
"God doesn't make junk."

Not only did God shape you before your birth, he planned every day of your life to support his shaping process.
David continues, "Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed."
This means that nothing that happens in your life is insignificant.
God uses all of it to mold you for your ministry to others and shape you for your service to him.
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.

How God Shapes You for Your Ministry to Build with others.

1. SHAPE: Unwrapping Your Spiritual Gifts

Spiritual gifts is given to each of us as a means of helping the entire church.
God planned it this way so we would need each other to build the church.
When we use our gifts together, we all benefit.
If others don't use their gifts, you get cheated, and if you don't use your gifts, they get cheated.
This is why we're commanded to discover and develop our spiritual gifts.

Have you taken the time to discover your spiritual gifts?

An unopened gift is worthless.

Two common problems are "gift-envy" and "gift-projection."

The second problem happens when we expect everyone else to have our gifts.
We do what we are called to do, and feel as passionate about it as we do.
1 Cor. 12:4 - "There are different kinds of service in the church, but it is the same Lord we are serving."
Sometimes spiritual gifts are overemphasized to the neglect of the other factors God uses to shape you for service.
Your gifts reveal one key to discovering God's will for your ministry and for building the Kingdom of God together.
Your spiritual gifts are not the total picture.

God has shaped you in four other ways, too.

2. SHAPE: Listening to Your Heart

Your heart represents the source of all your motivations - What you love to do and what you care about most.
Even today we still use the word in this way when we say, "I love you with all my heart."
As a face is reflected in water, so the heart reflects the person.
Your heart reveals the real you-what you truly are, not 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.

When you were growing up, you may have discovered that you were intensely interested in some subjects that no one else in your family cared about.
Where did those interests come from?
They came from God.
God had a purpose in giving you these inborn interests.
Your emotional heartbeat is the second key to understanding your 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 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.
You don't need rewards or applause or payment, because you love serving in this way.
The opposite is also true: When you don't have a heart for what you're 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.
We have all heard people say, "I took a job I hate in order to make a lot of money, so someday I can quit and do what I love to do."
That's a big mistake.
Don't waste your life in a job that doesn't express your heart.

Remember, the greatest things in life are not things.
Meaning is far more important than money.

The richest man in the world once said, "A simple life in the fear-of-God is better than a rich life with a ton of headaches."
Don't settle for just achieving "the good life," because the good life is not good enough.
Ultimately it doesn't satisfy.
You can have a lot to live on and still have nothing to live for.
Aim instead for "the better life"-serving God in a way that expresses your heart.
Figure out what you love to do-what God gave you a heart to do-and then do it for his glory.

God works through different men in different ways, but it is the same God who achieves his purposes through them all.

Question to Consider: In what way can I see myself passionately serving others and loving it?


  Dale Boehs

13 April 2006