SHAPE - Know what's yours exactly?

Do u know your unique custom combination of God given capabilites?

Spiritual gifts
Heart
Abilities
Personality
Experience

You cant earn your spiritual gifts or deserve them - that's why they are called gifts! They are an expression of God's grace to you. ..... Your spiritual gifts were not given for your own benefits but for the benefit of others, just as other people were given gifts for your benefits. ..... God planned it this way so we would need each other. When we use our gifts together, we all benefit. If others dont use their gifts, you get cheated, and if you dont use your gifts, they get cheated.

The bible uses the term heart to describe the bundle of desires, hopes, interests, ambitions,dreams and affections you have. Your heart represents the source of all your motivations. ..... Your heart reveals the real you- what your truly are, not what others think of you or what circumstances force you to be. ..... Another word for heart is passion. There are certain subjects you feel passionate about and others you couldnt care less about. Some experiences turn you off or bore you to tears. These reveal the nature of your heart. ..... God has a purpose in giving you these inborn interests. Your emotional heartbeat is the second key to understanding your shape for service. Dont ignore your interests. Consider how they might be used for God glory. There is a reason that you love to do these things. ..... God wants you to serve him passionately, not dutifully. People rarely excel at tasks they dont enjoy doing or feel passionate about. God wants you to use your natural interests to serve him and others.

..... How do u know when you are serving God from your heart? The 1st telltale sign is enthusiasm. When you are doing what you love to do, no one has to motivate you or challenge you or check up on you. You do it for the sheer enjoyment. You dont need rewards or applause or payment, because you serving in this way. The opposite is also true: when you dont have a heart for what you're doing, your are easily discouraged. The 2nd characteristics of serving God from your heart is effectivesness. Whenever you do what God has wired you to love to do, you get good at it. Passion drives perfection. If you dont care about a task, it is unlikely that you will excel at it. On contrast, the highest achievers in any field are those who do it because of passion, not duty or profit. ..... Figure out what you love to do - what God gave you a heart to do - and then do it for his glory.

Your abilities are the natural talents you were born with. All our abilites come from God. Even abilites used to sin are God-given; they are just being misused or abused. ..... Since your natural abilites are from God, they are just as important and as "spiritual" as your spiritual gifts. The only difference is that you were given them at birth. ..... Many studies have revealed that the average person possesses from 500 to 700 differnent skills and abilites - far more than you realize.

Every ability can be used for God's glory. The bible is filled with examples of different abilites that God uses for his glory. ..... The bible says, "There are different abilities to perform service, but the same God gives ability to all for their particular service. God has a place in his church where your specialties can shine and you can make a difference. It's up to you to find that place.

What i'm able to do, God wants me to do. You are the only person on earth who can use your abilites. No one else can play your role, because they dont have your abilites. No one else can play your role, because they dont have the unique shape that God has given. ..... God will never ask you to dedicate your life to a task you have no talent for. On the other hand, the abilites you do have are a strong indication of what God wants you to do with your life. They are clues to knowing God's will for you. ..... God doesnt waste abilites;he matches our calling and our capabilites. Your abilites were not given just to make a living; God has gave them to you for your ministry.

Your uniqueness is a scientific fact of life. When God made you, he broke the mold. There never has been , and never will be, anybody exactly like you. It is obvious that God loves variety - just look around! He created each of us with a unique combination of personality traits. God made introverts and extroverts. He made people who loves routine and those who love variety. He made some people "thinkers" and others "feelers". Some people work best when given an individual assignment while others work better with a team. The bible says," God works through different people in different ways, but it is the same God who achieves his purpose through them all." ..... There is no "right" or "wrong" temperament for ministry. We need all kinds of personalities to balance the church and give it flavour.

Your personality will affect how and where you use your spiritual gifts and ablities. For instance, two people may have the same gift of evangelism, but if one is introverted and the other is extroverted, the gift will be expressed in different ways. .... Like stained glass, our different personalities reflect God's light in many colours and patterns. This blesses the family of God with depth and variety. Its also blesses us personally. It feels good to do what God made you to do. When you minister in a manner consistent with the personality that God gave you, you experience fulfillment, satisfaction and fruitfulness.

Your have been shaped by your own experiences in life, most of which were beyond your control. God allowed them for his purpose of molding you. In determining your shape for serving God, you should examine at least six kinds of experiences from your past:

> Family : What did you learn growing up in your family?
> Educational : What were your favourite subjects in school?
> Vocational : What jobs have you need most effective in and enjoyed most?
> Spiritual : What have been your most meaningful time with God?
> Ministry : How have you served God in the past?
> Painful : What problems, hurts, thorns, and trials have you learned from?

It is this last category, painful experiences, that God uses the most to prepare you for ministry. God never wastes a hurt! In fact, your greatest ministry will most likely come out of your greatest hurt. ..... God intentionally allows us to go through painful experiences to equip you to ministry to others. ..... If you really desire to be used by God, you must understand a powerful truth: The very experiences that you have resented or regretted most in life - the ones you've wanted to hide and forget - are the experiences God wants to use to help others. They are your ministry. ..... People are always encouraged when we share how God's grace helped us in our weakness than when we brag about our strengths. ..... Aldous Huxley said, "Experiences is not what happens to you. It's what you do with that happens to you." What will you do with what you've been through? Don't waste your pains; use it to help others.

- The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren

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Extracted out hopefully the important parts of what Rick wrote. Really funny here, u might think i'm actually reading this book atm but i'm actually not. Reading another book called "Full service" and the author was quoting some parts of what u read so i think its meaningful, thus decided to type out the "juicy" parts for u fellows to chew on. Hope u had a good "meal". Hehehe