You Were Born on Purpose for a Purpose
From the very beginning of this series, we’ve established one foundational truth:
You were born on purpose for a purpose.
You weren’t an accident. You weren’t created on a whim or because God happened to have a good day. You were intentionally formed and knit together by the Creator of all creation. God doesn’t make junk. There is something He has written on your life. There is a calling on you. And that calling isn’t simply about you it is ultimately for the Kingdom of God.
Throughout our lives, God connects the dots. He puts us in certain places, around certain people, at specific moments, often long before we understand why. Then one day, we look back and realize that what seemed random wasn’t random at all. God was preparing us.
And at the center of all those connected dots is His greatest desire: salvation. God loved us so much that He sent Jesus for us. While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. We didn’t earn His grace. We couldn’t make ourselves worthy of it. Grace came first. And because we have received that grace, we are empowered to become agents of grace to the people around us. Not because they deserve it. Neither did we. God’s grace reached us before we got better.
Your Calling Is Waiting for You
There isn’t a single day, hour, or moment of your life when you aren’t called. When you walk out of the church building, there will be someone God puts in front of you. It may happen at a restaurant. It may happen at the grocery store. It may happen at work. It may happen in your neighborhood. The question isn’t whether God has a calling on your life. The question is:
Will you recognize it when it comes?
And when you recognize it, will you trust God enough to step into it? Maybe you’re thinking, I don’t know what to say. I don’t know what to do. I don’t feel qualified. Good. You may be exactly where God wants you.
Sometimes all God is asking for is one step of obedience. When you take that step, the Holy Spirit can do what you could never do on your own. You may walk away thinking, I don’t even know what I just said, but God used it. Those are the moments when you begin to realize there really is more.
You are made for more.
But stepping into that more requires something from us: an honest assessment of who we are.
Take an Honest Assessment of Yourself
Romans 12:1–3 tells us to offer ourselves to God, allow Him to transform us by renewing our minds, and then gives us this important instruction:
“Do not think of yourselves more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourselves with sober judgment.”
In other words, Paul is telling us to take an honest look at ourselves. Not an assessment of our spouse. Not an assessment of our neighbor. Not an assessment of the person sitting across the room. An assessment of me. Sometimes we are very good at identifying what’s wrong with everyone else while overlooking what’s happening inside of us. That’s why we need the Holy Spirit to help us see ourselves clearly.
What’s That Smell?
Think about a baby with a dirty diaper. The baby doesn’t care. The baby is perfectly content. But everybody else in the room knows something needs to change. Sometimes we’re like that spiritually. We don’t realize the aroma we’re carrying into a room.
Maybe it’s our temper.
Maybe it’s anger.
Maybe it’s bitterness.
Maybe it’s judgment.
Maybe it’s a coldness toward people.
Maybe it’s harsh words or a critical spirit.
Maybe it’s unforgiveness.
We may not notice it, but other people do. Sometimes we need to stop and ask: “Is the smell in the room coming from me?”
Scripture tells us that we are called to be the aroma of Christ. So what kind of aroma are we carrying? When we walk into a room, do people experience the love, grace, forgiveness, kindness, and acceptance of Jesus? Or does something else arrive before we do? Because we’re called to be gatherers, not scatterers.
Would You Follow You?
That leads to a question that most of us probably don’t ask ourselves:
Would you follow you?
Paul said in 1 Corinthians 11:1:
“Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.”
That’s a powerful standard. If someone followed your life, would they eventually bump into Jesus? Would your marriage point them toward Christ? Would your friendships point them toward Christ? Would the way you handle conflict point them toward Christ? Would your words, attitudes, decisions, and reactions make someone want to know the Jesus you follow?
We often think leadership is about a position. But everyone is a leader. You lead yourself every single day. And the hardest person you will ever lead is you.
The Hardest Person You’ll Ever Lead Is You
We often give ourselves grace that we’re unwilling to give other people. We make excuses for ourselves that we wouldn’t accept from anyone else. We lower our standards for ourselves while holding everyone else to a higher standard. We justify our behavior while criticizing similar behavior in someone else. That’s why self-leadership matters. You can lead a church, a business, a team, a family, or a ministry, but if you aren’t leading yourself well, eventually everything else is affected. Before you can effectively lead others, you have to allow God to lead you. The hardest person you will ever lead is you.
God Has Given You Gifts for a Purpose
God hasn’t simply called you. He has equipped you. You have talents. Talents are natural abilities God placed in you. You have skills. Skills are developed through learning, practice, and repetition. And you have spiritual gifts. Spiritual gifts are supernatural gifts given by God for the purpose of building His Kingdom.
None of these things are random. God has woven them together as part of who you are. But gifts are often discovered through movement, not stillness. You don’t always discover your gifts by sitting around wondering what they might be. Sometimes you discover them by getting up and serving. Try something. Get involved. Use what God has given you. You may discover that the thing you thought you were supposed to do isn’t actually where your gifts fit. That’s okay. Sometimes you have to move in order to discover where God is leading you.
Pay Attention to What Moves You
So how do you begin recognizing your gifts and calling? Start asking yourself some questions.
What breaks your heart?
What do you see that causes something inside you to say, "Someone needs to do something about this?" That may be connected to your calling.
What lights you up?
What can you talk about for hours? What gets you excited? What makes you come alive? Pay attention to those things.
Where are you seeing fruit?
As you’ve served, encouraged, helped, taught, led, or simply shown up, where have you seen God produce fruit through you? Pay attention.
What do people consistently thank you for?
Sometimes other people can see our gifts before we can. You may think, I’m just helping.
But other people keep telling you, You’re really good at that. Listen. Your gifts may be showing up in places you haven’t recognized yet.
Your Gifts Are Assignments Waiting to Be Embraced
Ephesians 2:8-9 reminds us that we are saved by grace through faith, not because of our works. But then verse 10 tells us why we’ve been created:
“For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”
Read that again. God prepared works in advance for you to do. There are assignments waiting for you. There are people you are supposed to encourage. There are conversations you’re supposed to have. There are people who need the grace you’ve received. There are places where your gifts can build the Kingdom. But you won’t discover all of that by simply sitting still and thinking about it. You have to move. Take a step. Serve. Try something. Trust God. And let Him reveal what He’s placed inside of you.
God Can Use Your Pain
Sometimes the gifts God uses most powerfully in our lives are connected to the things we’ve walked through. God wastes no pain. Think about someone who has experienced a profound loss. That pain can become a source of compassion for someone walking through the same thing. What you’ve been through doesn’t have to be wasted. God can redeem it. He can take your story, your experience, your gifts, and even your pain and use them to help someone else find hope. What you’ve walked through may become part of the assignment God has prepared for you.
Don’t Let a Dirty Diaper Keep You From Your Calling
Here’s the hard truth:
Sometimes we miss what God has placed right in front of us because something inside of us needs to be dealt with.
We know we’re called. We know God has something for us. But our anger gets in the way. Our pride gets in the way. Our unforgiveness gets in the way. Our judgment gets in the way. Our selfishness gets in the way. Our attitudes get in the way. Sometimes our “dirty diaper” keeps us from stepping fully into the calling God has placed on our lives. And sometimes we recognize the opportunity, but the aroma we’re carrying keeps the relationship from going any further.
But here’s the good news:
God wants to change it.
No one can change us like God can. He knows what’s happening inside of us before anyone else sees it. He knows the things we hide. He knows the attitudes we justify. He knows the wounds we haven’t dealt with. And He doesn’t reveal those things to condemn us. He reveals them so He can heal us.
Honesty Leads to Healing
The hardest person you will ever lead is you. So take an honest assessment. Ask the Holy Spirit to show you what needs to change.
Where do you need to repent?
Where do you need to forgive?
Where do you need to surrender?
Where do you need to grow?
Where do you need to let God change your heart?
Because when honesty happens, healing follows. You were born on purpose for a purpose. You have been called. You have been gifted. There are assignments waiting for you. And there are people who need what God has placed inside of you.
So before you walk into the next assignment, take a moment to look honestly at yourself.
Would you follow you? If someone followed your life, would they find Jesus? And if the Holy Spirit reveals something that needs to change, don’t run from it. Let God lead you through it. Because the goal isn’t simply to become a better version of yourself. The goal is to become more fully the person God created you to be—so that your life can point others to Him. You were born on purpose for a purpose. Now let’s live like it.