Dear Friends, I have been sick this week, so writing has not been high on my agenda. Resting has! My plan for this week’s post was to encourage you that you have a circle of influence that is uniquely yours. This is a repost on being the best you. When you are pointed in the direction that God has for you,, those you influence will be pointed in the right direction as well. Be encouraged and discover your best you!

Road trip! I love a road trip! On our road trips I have usually been the navigator. Years ago a long road trip needed a great deal of planning. After the destination was decided I would pull out my road atlas and determine the best route. The Internet made it easier when I could search a mapping website and print out directions. Now, I pull out my phone, type in the destination and let my GPS speak the directions turn by turn. Definitely easier! Yet each method of finding the way starts the same: I have to decide where I am going. 

When it comes to your adventure with God do you have an idea where you are going? Not specifics. None of us really knows that in advance. With God we get the turn-by-turn directions as we go. But God does want to give us an idea of what direction to head in. Have you asked Him about it?

When you know what direction He wants you to head in you will find yourself motivated to keep growing.  Growth doesn’t happen randomly. It happens intentionally. Where do you find your motivation to keep growing? Are you looking to please other people? Are you looking for happiness? Are you looking to fulfill a self-made dream? How’s that going?

You’ve probably already found that people-pleasing causes discouragement. People are fickle and our efforts to prove ourselves to them often fall flat. Happiness is illusive and fleeting. It doesn’t last. Dreams that we decide on are often unreachable or unsatisfying when we do achieve them. Do you know what direction you are headed in? What keeps you going forward in your relationship with God? What would it look like if you found out why God created you and let that be your direction? 

Discovering your unique purpose and mission can help to point you in the right direction and motivate you to keep growing.  But how do you find out? How do I discover my unique mission and purpose? 

First, recognize that it is a journey. Unlike our planned road trips, fulfilling your unique mission is not a finite destination.  It is a myriad of destinations on the way to one destination: God’s glory. The ultimate destination in fulfilling your unique mission and purpose is God’s pleasure and to make His name known. That, in the end, is why each of us was put on the earth. But God, in His creativity and love for us, has given each of us a unique way to make that happen. 

Focus on developing yourself and your own relationship with God. That is less about completing tasks and more about becoming a person of Christ-like character. It’s about being rather than doing. This aspect of your journey is continuous regardless of the stops along the way. It is also the most challenging part of your adventure with God. If you make Christ-like character your goal, you will find yourself always in motion, taking many small steps toward a goal that won’t be achieved this side of heaven. But it is most certainly a goal worth pursuing. We make Him known when we look like HIm. 

Focus on fulfilling your unique mission. Have you fully accepted that you are a unique and glorious individual made in the image of God? Think about that and try to absorb it! God created YOU, with all your weaknesses and strengths, for a specific purpose, You really do have a unique mission. You affect people in your circle of influence that no one else can touch. This is also just as much about being as it is about doing. He has called you to be His representative right where you are. What if you let that be your motivation to keep growing? Are you the best representative of Christ that you can be?

Discover your purpose, the reason God created you, by discovering and developing your gifs and talents. Other people might try to make you fulfill their purpose for you. Have you noticed that? They want you to work in a certain job or serve in a certain way at church, but if you aren’t fulfilling God’s purpose and design for you you will never be satisfied and you won’t be bringing Him glory and making Him known as well as you could be. Have you taken the time to recognize what you are good at so that you can spend your energy there? Those gifts point the way to why God created you.

Here are some ways to discover your unique purpose and mission:

Take a personality test.  You aren’t your sister, your brother or your best friend. Your relational styles are different and God made you that way on purpose. Don’t try to be someone else. Part of knowing God is knowing yourself. When you receive your uniqueness as a gift from God you begin to know Him better. I’ve linked to a few personality tests at the bottom of this post. Remember that a personality test does not define you. It is a tool for discovering your unique make-up, the one God gave you. You may not agree with all the results, but you also may understand yourself in a better way and that can help you in discovering your unique mission. It’s a tool for discovery, not a definition.   

Discover and develop your unique skill set.  We spend too much time focusing on what we aren’t good at and comparing our weaknesses to other people’s strengths. Focus on your strengths and make them as strong as they can be. We can’t ignore our weaknesses completely, but instead of comparing ask for help from someone who is stronger. Delight in her strength and share yours. Let her help you grow stronger where you are weak and use your strength to bulid up her weakness. I’ve linked to a spiritual gifts assessment below. A spiritual gift is any gift God has given you to help you achieve His purpose. Your spiritual gifts may not seem spiritual to you at first, but recognizing them can help you in discerning God’s voice when He speaks the next turn in your journey. 

Prayerfully craft a personal purpose statement.  As you begin to recognize your unique personality and gifts you will begin to see how they fit with your passions, the things that really get you excited. There is a good chance that your unique mission is the intersection of your personality, personal strengths and passion. Ask God to show you your personal mission. He wants you to know! Ask Him to help you develop a purpose statement for your life and then use it as a guide. Set your personal goals around that purpose statement. Your personal purpose statement may need adjustment over time, but as you prayerfully keep it before you it can be a tool God uses to shape your journey with Him. 

The YES life is a satisfying life, not easy but satisfying. It is an exciting and fulfilling road trip with many twists, turns, hills and valleys. When you begin to discover your unique purpose, your mission, the reason you were created, and you say yes to it you will begin to discover the more you were created for. You will have a destination worth reaching toward. Let your primary destination be God’s glory and to make His name known and your second direction be to fulfill the unique mission you were created for. Through every stop along the way as you keep those two things in mind, you will find yourself motivated to keep growing and keep going.

There is only one you. God created you because He wanted you. He has given you a unique mission that only you can fulfill. There are people that only you can reach for God. Let His light shine through your uniqueness. Comparing yourself to someone else slows down your progress in fulfilling your purpose. Time to step out of the comparison trap and learn who you are. Discover your more when you give God your YES. Be the best you you can be. Now that’s a road trip worth taking!

Key thought: Your best motivation is to be the best you. 

A Scripture to consider: “Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win! All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize. So I run with purpose in every step.”‭ ‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭9:24-26‬ ‭NLT‬‬  

A YES Challenge: Go online and find a personality profile or spiritual gifts assessment or use the links below. Talk about your results with a trusted friend. What do these results tell you about the way God has created you and what your unique mission might be? Spend time in prayer and begin to craft a personal purpose statement. 

Prayer:  Father, I never considered that knowing myself better was a way to know You better. I want to bring You glory and make Your name known. Help me to discover Your unique mission for me so that I can do that to the best of my ability. I love you, Father! Amen.  

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The following links may ask for your email address and sign you up for their mailing lists or try to sell you a more detailed result package. My only goal is to give you a tool. Don’t feel pressured to purchase and feel free to unsubscribe! 

Personality profiles: 

The DISC personality profile:   https://discpersonalitytesting.com/free-disc-test/

The Myers-Briggs personality profile:  https://www.16personalities.com/free-personality-test

A spiritual gifts assessment: https://gifts.churchgrowth.org/spiritual-gifts-survey/

An article on crafting a personal mission statement: https://www.christiancoachinstitute.com/building-effective-mission-statement/