S.H.A.P.E.: Finding and Fulfilling Your Unique Purpose for Life

Paul tells us we may have wonderful and valuable spiritual gifts, but without love we are unusable.

To determine what is truly propelling your spiritual gifts, ask yourself, “Who is the primary beneficiary of my actions?” If your actions benefit others, you are serving with love. If you realize you are the prime beneficiary of your actions, you need to immediately realign yourself with God. A love-driven life is the life God uses.

Connecting with your God-given passions transforms your everyday life. Passions make work seem like play. And our gifts and passions ignite like spiritual rocket fuel, propelling us to new heights of service, when we mix them with our natural abilities.

In his book, 19 Gifts of the Spirit, Leslie B. Flynn writes: “You are a gifted child of God. Since you are also given an outlet for your gift, you are a minister too. For every gift he bestows, the Spirit has planned a sphere of service. Thus, no child should have an inferiority complex. Rather, awareness that he is a gifted child with an area of m

When we serve in areas that best match our giftedness, we experience great(er) fulfillment and see great(er) fruitfulness for God. On the other hand, when we serve outside our giftedness, we usually end up frustrated and fatigued. Serving others is the best way to clarify your giftedness because it allows you the opportunity to try out your gifts.

? It’s easy to forget this in our day-after-day life, but one day each one of us will give an account to God for what we did with the talents he gave

I have seen that people discover their gifts as they minister to others. The more you serve God in ministry, the more clearly you will see your gifts.

assurance that what we hope for is going to happen (see Hebrews 11:1). The more time we spend with God, the more we learn of his goodness and faithfulness—and the stronger our faith in him becomes. We learn from God’s Word that it is impossible to please God without faith (see Hebrews 11:6). That very chapter of Scripture—Hebrews 11—lists many ordi

Just as the Lord gave you unique spiritual gifts, passions, and abilities, the personality you have also is his gift to you. He created it and gave it to you to use for his glory.