Wednesday, April 4, 2018

A Purpose Driven Life - Chapter 31

A Purpose Driven Life Chapter 31 - Finding Your Specific Purpose

Chapter Overview:  Continuing with the SHAPE acrostic, Rick writes about our Abilities, Personality, and Experience. He equates abilities to our natural talents and had a long list of jobs in the bible of different occupations that used these. 
Finding my specific purpose - many hands making a heart

2011 (40 years old)

The differentiation between these and how he described Heart wasn't entirely clear to me. This one did seem more broad and less 'spiritual' as he mentioned that 'being able to make money and grow a business' as falling into this category.
I don't remember the word that R---- stood for but Rick correlated it with personality, saying that Jeremiah was melancholic, Moses was sanguine, etc, and there is a place in God's family for every personality type.
Experience was the word for the last letter. I'm so glad he included this one because it's huge. All of our experiences have a huge influence in making who we are and what we can do.  That is the reason I think I am a good teacher - because of my experiences with teachers growing up. He had a great quote about experience at the end of the chapter: 'Experience isn't what happens to you, it's what you do with what happens to you'
So what does this all mean to me? I'm good at teaching. I'm great at execution. I have no desire to be a leader at the level of a CIO. I enjoy the thought of being an author, but I'm challenged to find the time to write. I'm great with clients. I'm not great with communicating technical architecture to other architects. I'm musically gifted. I enjoy goofing around with songs with kids. I'm confident in what I know.

2016 (45 years old)

Only you can be you. No one else can be you. 'God has given each of us abilities.  Be sure to use them to help one another, passing on to others God's many kinds of blessings'. What God-given ability or personal experience can I offer to my church?  I like this SHAPE acrostic Rick has been working with for the past two chapters. This chapter was Abilities, Personality, and Experiences. Some good thoughts: Aldous Huxley said 'Experience is not what happens to you.  It's what YOU DO with what has happened to you'. 2 Cor. 1:4 'He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When others are troubled we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us'. You personality will affect How and Where you will use you spiritual gifts and abilities.


For background on what these 'Purpose Driven Life' posts are about, click this link.
  • Purpose Driven Life Chapter 1 - Its Not About Me
  • Purpose Driven Life Chapter 2 - You Are Not an Accident
  • Purpose Driven Life Chapter 3 - What Drives You?
  • Purpose Driven Life Chapter 4 - Eternity In Our Hearts
  • Purpose Driven Life Chapter 5 - What is Life?
  • Purpose Driven Life Chapter 6 - Life on Earth is a Temporary Assignment
  • Purpose Driven Life Chapter 7 - The Reason for Everything
  • Purpose Driven Life Chapter 8 - You Were Planned for God's Pleasure
  • Purpose Driven Life Chapter 9 - What Makes God Smile?
  • Purpose Driven Life Chapter 10 - The Surrendered Life
  • Purpose Driven Life Chapter 11 - Friend of God
  • Purpose Driven Life Chapter 12 - Friend of God II
  • Purpose Driven Life Chapter 13 - Worship That Pleases God
  • Purpose Driven Life Chapter 14 - When God Isn't There
  • Purpose Driven Life Chapter 15 - Part of God's Family
  • Purpose Driven Life Chapter 16 - What Matters Most
  • Purpose Driven Life Chapter 17 - You Belong
  • Purpose Driven Life Chapter 18 - Life is Meant to be Shared
  • Purpose Driven Life Chapter 19 - Made for Community
  • Purpose Driven Life Chapter 20 - Restoring Broken Fellowship
  • Purpose Driven Life Chapter 21 - Unity of the Church
  • Purpose Driven Life Chapter 22 - Transformed to be Like Christ
  • Purpose Driven Life Chapter 23 - Transformed by Thought
  • Purpose Driven Life Chapter 24 - Transformed By Truth
  • Purpose Driven Life Chapter 25 - Transformed by Trouble
  • Purpose Driven Life Chapter 26 - Transformed by Temptation
  • Purpose Driven Life Chapter 27 - Defeating Temptation
  • Purpose Driven Life Chapter 28 - It Takes Time
  • Purpose Driven Life Chapter 29 - Shaped for Serving God
  • Purpose Driven Life Chapter 30 - Our Place in Serving
  • Purpose Driven Life Chapter 32 - Using What God Gave You
  • Purpose Driven Life Chapter 33 - How Real Servants Act
  • Purpose Driven Life Chapter 34 - Thinking Like a Servant
  • Purpose Driven Life Chapter 35 - God Uses Our Weaknesses
  • Purpose Driven Life Chapter 36 - You Were Made for a Mission
  • Purpose Driven Life Chapter 37 - Sharing Your Life Message
  • My Appendix to Chapter 37
  • My Testimony Based on Chapter 37
  • Purpose Driven Life Chapter 38 - Becoming a World-Class Christian
  • Purpose Driven Life Chapter 39 - Balance
  • Purpose Driven Life Chapter 40 - Living With Purpose
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