The Calling: How to Discover Your God-Given PurposeSample

How to Fulfill Your Calling

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 follower of Jesus, you have been called by God and created with a purpose that is so much bigger than yourself. Your calling consists of your identity, your purpose, and your assignment.

Your identity is who you are because of who God is.

• God is the Father and we are His children.
• God is the Son and we are His followers.
• God is the Spirit and we are His dwellingplace.

Your purpose is what God created you to do: to love Him with your whole self and love your neighbor as yourself.

Your assignment is how you accomplish that purpose. And here’s the really important thing: If you are living out your God-given identity in pursuit of your God-given purpose, then your assignment can be whatever you want it to be.

And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father. Colossians 3:17 NLT

Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people. Remember that the Lord will give you an inheritance as your reward, and that the Master you are serving is Christ.
Colossians 3:23-24 NLT

So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.
1 Corinthians 10:31 NLT

Most people spend most of their time stressing about the how questions. But God cares far more about who you become and what you pursue than how you do it.

Think of your calling like a large circle. Your identity and purpose make up the rim of the circle. Your assignment can be anything that fits inside of that circle. And as long as the assignment you choose is in the circle, you will be fulfilling God’s will for your life. There will certainly be things that are a better match than others for your spiritual gifts, your passions, your pains, and the needs of the people around you. That’s what makes the questions from yesterday’s reading so helpful—they help us narrow our focus and home in on assignments that might be a better match for us.

Okay, but what if you make the wrong choice? What if you decide to do something that doesn’t go well or doesn’t turn out like you expected?

The answer to that question isn’t if it happens, but when it happens. All of us will make choices that seem good at the time, but that later we’ll wish we hadn’t made. If you don’t believe us, just read the Bible and look at the lives of the people so many of us look up to. Even though they were mostly faithful, none of them were perfect. But their shortcomings didn’t prevent God from using them to do amazing things. Often, it was through their failures that they learned some of the most valuable lessons.

Author and pastor John Ortberg says, “God can use a wrong door to shape a right heart.”

As long as you are doing your best to stay faithful to Jesus and live in a way that is helpful to people, God can and will use whatever you do for good.

Writing to his apprentice Timothy, Paul says, “For God saved us and called us to live a holy life. He did this, not because we deserved it, but because that was his plan from before the beginning of time—to show us his grace through Christ Jesus” (2 Timothy 1:9 NLT).

And 1 Thessalonians tells us, “God’s will is for you to be holy …”

So, how do you fulfill your calling? You choose to live out your identity as a child of the Father, a follower of the Son, and a dwelling place of the Holy Spirit. You choose to love God with your whole self and love your neighbor as yourself. And whatever assignment you choose, you trust God to use it to make you holy and bring Him glory.

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

You have been called by God to play a part in His good plans to restore the world—not because of anything you did to earn it, but because of how much God loves you and wants you to experience the joy of serving Him and making a difference. So, live a life worthy of that calling, because you have been called by God.

Pray: Heavenly Father, thank You for calling me Yours and calling me to a purpose that is so much bigger than myself. I want to live a life worthy of it all. Help me to know who You are and trust who You say I am. Show me how to love You with all I am and love others the way I want to be loved. Guide me to an assignment where I can be faithful to You and helpful to others. Through it all, I’m so grateful You promise to be with me. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Want to learn even more about who God says you are? Check out this Plan:
Becoming Like Jesus: Who Am I?

Try this Plan if you want to do a deep dive into the life and teachings of Jesus:
Learning the Jesus Way of Life

And if you want to better understand how to fulfill your purpose, this Plan’s for you:
The Basics of Being Christian