My heart, my passion, my mission in this world is to use my talents, my strengths, and my resources to impact the world around me with a single message. You are loved, you have value, and the God who created you with purpose desires to know you and have you know him. His Son made that possible. With that, comes the first part of my discovery of purpose and why I would choose to take part in the ventures that have unfolded before me.
A few months ago as I launched into one of my soapbox rants with Jay, our lead pastor (not the first, not the last), I shared with him my vision for speaking a simpler message to our body. We’ve expended so much effort with mission statements, and diagrams, and purpose charts, that we’ve muddied the message, so to speak. My goal was to create such a simple message that everybody could remember it easily, get behind it, and make it a part of their daily lives. I crowed from that soap box about the power of the great commission in that there was one word in it that meant more than any other… it was the verb… the active, ongoing voice of action in that message. The command was “GO!”
And so begins the development of the message of GO! Over the coming months I will be developing a strategy and a system for going. I’ll share my experience and vision for how to motivate, lead, and launch a movement that gets people out of their stasis and into doing. Today’s first sneak peak is here. Let’s look at the first of Five characteristics of a GO:er and stand together against incredible odds to GO on the mission that God has created for each of us.
(1) GO:ers Know Your Mission
Recognizing that you were made with purpose, talents, strengths, and value, your first step in becoming a GO:er is to have a direction to GO in! For some this may be the most difficult of all steps because it requires knowing yourself and understanding God’s purpose for you in this life. What are you better at than almost any other person? What is that one thing that will get you out of the rack in the morning and makes you want to jump and run? If you aren’t aware of who you are, here are a few ideas to help you out.
- Who do you connect with most? – Are you naturally gifted for nurturing children? Perhaps you’ve managed to come along side a struggling teenager more than once. Maybe you are like my friend Bill and you have a strong heart for training up men to live for God.
- ASK the people around you - If you’re married… ask your spouse! My wife could tell you way more about me than I can, because she sees me in a perspective that is outside my scope. She knows my strengths and OH is she aware of my weaknesses.
- Take a test – It probably sounds silly, but personality or talent profile tests like Myers-Briggs or my favorite StrengthsFinder 2.0
, can really help you to understand yourself and find direction.
- Pray – Ask God to give you an understanding of you and your place in this world. Tell Him that you know he has created you for a purpose and understand that he has a mission for you to be on. Ask him to reveal that plan to you and be ready for the answers that he brings because it will mean that you have a new job to do.
Up Next: (2) GO:ers Get Prepared
