Finding Purpose - Living In Your Gifts
Happy New Year everyone!! Hopefully we are all entering the new year refreshed and have had an opportunity to pray, reflect and set intentional goals to truly live a more purpose-filled life.
This year, my main goal is to continue to walk in my gifts and step into the purpose that God has for me. Because the older I get, the more I truly seek to know and understand my greater purpose in God. I thought this topic was fitting because as we enter 2023, whether you are setting your New Year’s resolutions or just your 2023 goals and visions in general, purpose is a huge factor in how we should align the goals we wish to tackle this year and future forward.
So, are you currently living in your gift(s)? Have you found YOUR purpose?
Proverbs 18:16 says, “Your gift will make room for you.” But do we really understand the meaning of that scripture?
Our gifts ARE what give us purpose. And the more we sit in our gifts and perfect them, the more opportunities will begin to present itself for us to practice our gifts. Doors will begin to open specifically for you to use your gifts. To help someone. To change lives.
1 Peter 4:10 - “Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of Gods grace in its various forms.”
Everyone has a gift, but not every person recognizes what their gift is. Being able to identify your gifts, both spiritual gifts and natural gifts, is the key to fulfilling the unique purpose of your life. However, don't confuse a gift with talent or even with passions. Anyone can learn a talent, and passions can fade away or change over time - but a gift is something you're born with. Your gift, is the very thing you were truly meant to do on this earth, and that is completely different. Through our gifts, God has enabled each of us to individually reach people no one else can. Our gifts are unique to us, and the more we allow the Holy Spirit to use our gifts, the bigger and more impactful they become .
When I became pregnant with my first baby, Cairo, I began praying even more heavily for my purpose. Because I knew God called me for more. That His true purpose for me was even more than what I was currently fulfilling. Which then led me to the fulfillment of this blog. I had to accept that there was more for me beyond my 9 to 5. Because honestly, my gifts weren’t being utilized fully in my corporate jobs. Now, I truly believe there’s a reason for every job and position God placed me in. But, were my roles allowing me to tap into my God-given gifts? Not entirely.
I first had to accept that I was capable of more. And once I accepted God’s assignment for my life and surrendered myself and my gifts to him, God did the rest. God honors faith and surrender. Sometimes we are blessed in that our corporate jobs do fully align with our true passions, our gifts, and our purpose. And other times, like for myself, I knew there was more God wanted me to press into that I couldn’t quite do in my corporate job.
We also have to realize that our purpose isn’t limited to one specific thing. Even the concept of “life purpose” can seem intimidating or daunting to uncover. I believe most of us have multiple gifts and callings.
1 Corinthians 12:4 - “There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them.”
God is so vast and He has blessed us with many gifts that we should be utilizing throughout our journey. As we continue to learn ourselves and grow, our passions evolve, our skill set expands, and as we mature our purpose expands too. Maybe 5 years ago my purpose was slightly different than it looks now. As a mom, as a wife, and career driven woman. Some of us even have careers doing a variety of things. So it’s important not to limit ourselves, our capacity to grow, make change, and tap into multiple things. Because God is limitless in what He can do and impart in us.
So, how do we learn what our gifts or what our calling is?
Here are a few examples of how we can determine what our gifts are:
Pray on it. Seek God. 1 Corinthians 12:4 - There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. God distributes gifts to us, so quite naturally we should go directly to the source to uncover what these are.
Ask yourself these questions: What do I enjoy doing? What can I naturally do well, with little effort? How do I add value to others by what I do well? Even if you deem it as “small” - let me just tell you, God can take a little and turn it into a lot. And He can make anything you do impactful.
Listen to the Holy Spirit. After you pray and seek God, LISTEN. Wait on Him to speak to you. Sometimes we get in a rush and become impatient during the process, but in Jeremiah 29:11 God says, “For I know the plans I have for you…plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give hope and a future.”
Have a growth mindset. Don’t be afraid to step outside of your comfort zone and step into the Holy Spirit. We don’t grow by continuously doing what feels comfortable. But if we stretch beyond what we initially think we are capable of, and make the effort to grow in God and in our gifts, and if we step out on faith - that is when God has room to show up and truly use us for His greater purpose.
Never stop feeding yourself knowledge. Never stop feeding your spirit. The more you learn and the more you explore your gifts and strengthen them, the more you will succeed in allowing your gift to expand. And never stop feeding your spirit. Rest in God. Rest in His spirit. THAT is where we get our ultimate strength. That is where the growth is!
Once God has given you revelation on what your gifts are, you then have to activate those gifts. Put them to use! Make them stronger! And you do this through practice and through consistently tapping into the Holy Spirit. Because a gift that has been dormant too long can become ineffective. But through the Holy Spirit and activating what God has already placed in us, He can work and use the very thing we may be intimidated by, and use it for His glory.
Remember, our gifts will make room for us.
This year, I hope we all take some time to evaluate what God has called us to do, and begin tapping into those gifts that may have been laying dormant bc we haven’t activated them yet. Because the only way we can grow individually and collectively is if we utilize our God given gifts and find purpose in doing so. Living fully in God is what will allow our purpose and our calling to be actualized.
Because once I surrendered and truly began seeking my calling and then actively pursuing my purpose, I became more whole.
And I promise, if you truly live in your gift(s) you’ll find the completeness you’ve been longing for. You’ll find peace. You’ll find fulfillment, joy and satisfaction.
You, will find purpose.
