The Calling: How to Discover Your God-Given PurposeSample

Your Purpose

Finding your calling starts with knowing who God is and trusting who He says you are. Once we know who God is and who we are because of our relationship to Him, the time comes to figure out what we’re made to do. Every single one of us, as human beings, as children of our Father, as followers of the Son, and as the dwelling places of the Spirit, have been created to fulfill a purpose that is so much bigger than ourselves.

But, how do we find that purpose? Well, if we continue our reading from the book of Ephesians, Paul lays it out for us:

Therefore I, a prisoner for serving the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God. Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love. Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace. For there is one body and one Spirit, just as you have been called to one glorious hope for the future. There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all, in all, and living through all. Ephesians 4:1-6 NLT

Okay, that’s a lot packed into just a few sentences, so let’s break it down line by line. Are you ready?

Therefore I, a prisoner for serving the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God. Ephesians 4:1 NLT

As a reminder, you have been called by God for a special purpose that you don’t have to earn because it is something Jesus won.

Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love. Ephesians 4:2 NLT

Living a life worthy of the calling you’ve been given looks like being humble, gentle, and patient with other people because of your love for them. Love, in biblical terms, is not simply what we think or how we feel. Love is what we do and how we live. It’s a choice we make to sacrifice for the good of another person.

Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace. Ephesians 4:3 NLT

The enemy loves it when the people we treat the worst are the ones we’re supposed to love the most. He thrives on stirring up division and conflict between followers of Jesus because he wants the family of God to be torn apart by hate. This is why we need to make every effort to stay united, not by our own strength but by the power of the Holy Spirit who gives us strength. Hate drives us apart, but love brings us together.

For there is one body and one Spirit, just as you have been called to one glorious hope for the future. Ephesians 4:4 NLT

As the family of God, we are united as one body, held together by the Holy Spirit, and moving toward the hope of Jesus returning to finish what He started. Until then, we get to play a part in bringing that promised future into the present.

There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all, in all, and living through all. Ephesians 4:5-6 NLT

Our faith, our loyalty, and our lives belong to the three-and-one God who is over all, in all, and living through all. This is what it means to live a life worthy of the calling you’ve been given.

Put all together, what are these six verses saying? Your purpose is to love God with your whole self and love your neighbor as yourself. This purpose is exactly what Jesus said matters more than anything else:

Jesus replied, “The most important commandment is this: ‘Listen, O Israel! The Lord our God is the one and only Lord. And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.’ The second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ No other commandment is greater than these.” Mark 12:29-31 NLT

Love God with all you are, and love other people the way you want to be loved. This is the “capital P” Purpose we were made to fulfill. And that’s a really big purpose with as many ways to do it as there are people on the planet. So, to help you bring focus to what it might look like for you, one of the best things you can do is choose a life verse.

A life verse is a Bible verse that gives you direction in life. Specifically, it helps clarify what it looks like for you to love God with your whole self and love your neighbor as yourself.

For some of you, as soon as we started talking about a life verse, a Scripture popped into your mind. If so, that’s awesome! For others, you have no idea what your life verse might be or where to start. That’s okay. Don’t stress about it. For now, look over this list of 30 popular Bible verses to see if any stick out to you.

Finding your life verse is a process that takes time. And even though life is in the name, if you pick something and change it later, there’s nothing wrong with that at all. As your life changes, chances are pretty good that your life verse will, too. The goal of this exercise is to help you clarify how you are uniquely wired by God to fulfill the purpose He has given to all of us: to love God with your whole self and love your neighbor as yourself.

Prayer: Father, help me to love You with all I am. I want to desire You more than I desire anything else. I want to trust You more than I trust myself. I want to know You in a real and personal way. And I want to serve You with my very best. Lord, teach me to love others the same way You have loved me. Make me who You want me to be. In Jesus’ name, amen.