Discovering my SHAPE for ministry

by Carol Van Buskirk, New Life Church, Cupertino, CA

(adapted from Pastor Rick Warren, Saddleback Community Church of El Toro, CA)

God created each of us individually with a purpose in mind - to love him. He intends for us to be fulfilled as we serve Him and the needs of others in ministry. Job 10:8 speaks of "God forming me and shaping me". My shape is a blend of five factors that makes me wonderfully complex. Encouraging God to reveal that shape can change your life as you see how God has prepared you for a unique ministry that only you can fulfill. SHAPE is an easy way to understand the five factors that God uses in his plan for each of our lives.

Spiritual Gifts
A spiritual gift is a special ability, given by the Holy Spirit to every believer, to be used to minister to others and therefore build up the Body of Christ. We may have more than one spiritual gift, and they are different from natural talents. They are always used for the benefit of others to build the kingdom of God. This list of 21 gifts is by category: A tool is available to help you see what God is doing or wanting to do through your life. You may have a spiritual gift that is not yet developed, and need to "unwrap it" by studying, requesting responses from others, training, but especially helpful is to experiment. It is easiest to discover your gift by doing it, not just from looking at a list. Your primary ministry commitment will hopefully be in the area where you are gifted.
Heart
Your heart is the real you, what you love to do, your passion. Your heart determines why you say, feel and act the way you do. Our unique emotional heartbeat races when it encounters activities, subjects or circumstances that interest us. We can choose to use this internal guidance system as a tool for ministry. Effective and enthusiastic people work in their passion area and have discovered the joy of being fulfilled. Look at your past accomplishments in order to identify those things in which you did well and enjoyed.
Abilities
These are the abilities and knowledge we all have, but may not be aware of. We were born with some natural abilities that can be discovered by looking at our past accomplishments. The vocational skills we have are also usable in God's work for the benefit of the body. When God gives us a divine assignment, he equips us with his Spirit and abilities to carry it out. God places people with abilities he wants to minister in a church.
Personality
God has wired each of our temperaments in a unique way. There are many ways to look at personality, but these are five factors that show how God made us each differently:
  1. Extroverted/Introverted - Do we get energy from being with people or being alone?
  2. Thinker/Feeler - how do we make decisions, using objective facts or intuition?
  3. What kind of tasks do we prefer - routine (predictable) or variety?
  4. Self-controlled/self-expressive - are we more open or controlled in our moods, words and reactions.
  5. Relating to other people - are we more cooperative or competitive?
Our personality can indicate the type of job and ministry God wants me to have. God also wants us to appreciate other people's personality differences; he seems to like variety!
Experience
God uses our experiences to teach us to trust him, to build our character, and to accomplish his purposes as we allow him to use our experiences to minister to others. Since our greatest life message comes out of our weakness, not our strengths, we need to take a good look at our painful experiences and what our trials have taught us. God never wastes a hurt or bad experience. Along with these tough times are other experiences to draw on: spiritual experiences (meaningful times with God), educational experiences, and ways we have ministered in the past.

What has God designed me to be? How has he shaped me for significance? Where does God seem to be working in my life? How can I join with what God is doing and experience fruitfulness and fulfillment? To discover your shape, here are five tools available:



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