I was shaped to serve God. Just as every creature in the world was created to play a specific role in the world, so I was created to do a specific thing. I was created to fulfill a specific ministry. God gave me abilities, interests, talents, gifts, personality and life experiences so I could use them all for His glory. When I identify and understand these factors, I can discover God’s will for my life. Warren summarizes the five main factors in the acrostic SHAPE.
Spiritual gifts
Heart
Abilities
Personality
Experience
Spiritual Gifts. God has given me specific spiritual gifts and they are to be used in ministry. These are gifts given to me when I became a believer. They are to be used in serving the wider body of believers. Each believer is to use his individual gifts to serve and complete the church.
Heart. Heart speaks of my desires, hopes, interests, ambitions, dreams and affections. In short, it describes all of my motivations – what I love to do and what I care about most. What is in my heart reveals who I am and what I am shaped to do. I need to examine myself to find what I am most passionate about and use that passion to find a place to serve God and the church.
Bible Passages
Warren quotes the Bible fourteen times using six translations and paraphrases. On the whole he uses good translations and uses Scripture within its proper context.
Point to Ponder
Today’s point to ponder is “I was shaped for serving God.” This should not be a surprising statement since it simply builds on what the book has been discussing for the past twenty nine days. If I was created by God and He created me to worship Him, it only makes sense that He has shaped me specifically to serve Him. So I suppose the logical question that arises is “how has God shaped me to serve Him.” I would go ahead and write about that, but I suspect that is something that will be covered in smaller steps in the days ahead. So I will go ahead and do something different. In this chapter Warren speaks about how God handcrafted each of us, and the word used in the Bible is the same as the word “Poem.” That made me think of a song my friend Jason wrote, called Poem, which speaks about this.
Life is but a poem
A work of God’s delight
His word brought forth the world, he breathed in me my life
Will I try to claim what is not mine to keep
Or let the rightful master work His artistry
Lord I give you my life, a living sacrifice
Lord I give you my all, to be servant of all
And heed Your call
Lord not mine, but Your will, Your plan to fulfill
I humbly step aside, let You be the guide
Abandoning all pretense, along for the ride
Lord I come before You to empty all my pride.
You would have a tough time making Jason admit it, but I helped write that song. The first time I heard it the final line was quite awkward so I suggested what it says now. I have since demanded co-writing credit, but he refuses to acknowledge my contribution. It’s an outrage!
Up Next
Tomorrow’s topic is Understanding Your Shape
