Day 41: Your Work
Over the past 40 days you have worked on defining how God wants you to change the world. This is YOUR WORK! Other words that describe this are mission, purpose, and vision.
WARM up:
Watch this video:
Read Nehemiah 4:15 and write out Proverbs 29:18.
A purpose statement is a one-sentence version of God’s vision for your life, expressed in words that totally motivate you to action.
Think about one action-focused sentence—a statement that God will use to propel you forward every day.
Where are you in this process?
I know my purpose and have words for it: Jump to Round 1 below.
I’m kind of clear, but I could use some help: Jump to Round 2 below.
I feel completely stuck: Jump to Round 3 below.
ROUND 1:
Know your purpose statement? Cool Let’s crystalize it.
Write your purpose statement by finishing this sentence:
God has created me with a mission for my life, and I think it is...
ROUND 2:
Close but don’t quite have it yet? Here’s some help…Go back to yesterday’s Soul Workout and use what you came up with to write a rough draft of your purpose statement. This equation can help you make this happen:
What + Who + How
Here’s a couple examples:
To encourage (WHAT) single moms (WHO) to manage their homes by teaching them basic life skills (HOW).
To develop the talents (WHAT) of my coworkers (WHO) by identifying their strengths and creating a growth to maximize those strengths (HOW).
To strengthen the connections (WHAT) of families (WHO) by teaching them how to have faith conversations at home (HOW).
Round 3:
Stuck? That’s okay. Do not give up. Try a few things to get something, anything, on paper as a VERY rough draft of your purpose statement:
Remember that the statement doesn’t have to be perfect! It will evolve over time.
Spend some time looking through your journal. What do you see?
Dig into your spiritual gifts, core values, and past experiences. What do these have in common? If you haven’t created the diagram (at the bottom of this workout), do that and see how they overlap.
Give yourself some time to get something on paper.
Pray through everything above.
BURN OUT:
Wherever you are in the process…pray:
“God, at best, I have inadequate words to describe Your purpose for me. But You died to change my story and I won’t settle to just get somewhere, I want to get somewhere on purpose. Keep refining Your vision for my life. I may not have every detail but that might be because You know I’m not ready for them yet!
*Parts of today’s workout inspired by www.chazown.com
Sometime this week:
Create a diagram of your work over the past few weeks…here’s how:
Circle 1: list your core values
circle 2: List your spiritual gifts
circle 3: List what god taught you in each chapter of your past experiences
