Serve Out of Design, Not Duty

The Bible says that God wants you to listen to your heart. To know what he wants you to do, he wants you to look at what you’re made to do. But most people these days are moving so fast that they don’t have time to listen to their hearts.

We’ve got to slow down! We’re all in such a hurry, stressed with too much to do, not realizing until later that we didn’t have to do so much.

That describes most people today in America. They’re speeding with no direction. But God wants you to slow down and listen to your heart. Romans 12:3 says, “Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves” (NLT).

I suggest you get alone with God and ask these questions: What do I love to do? What do I dream of doing? What fascinates me? What can I talk about, think about, and study all day and not get bored? Where have I been most effective in my life?

I once baptized an 80-year-old woman after a service at Saddleback Church. She wanted to be a small group host. That’s pretty cool—an 80-year-old small group host! She said, “I just wish I had learned years ago that we serve God out of our design, not out of duty.”

I wish everybody could learn that truth. That’s what SHAPE—your Spiritual gifts, Heart, Abilities, Personality, and Experiences—is all about. We serve God out of our design, the way he shaped us. We serve God not out of duty but because we love him.

When you do what God has wired you to do, it brings him glory. That’s the way to live. Don’t serve God out of force or design or guilt. Serve him out of delight and gratitude.

Start by making a careful exploration of who you are and the work you’ve been given. In other words, discover what God put you on earth to do. Then go do it with joy!