How Discovering Your Purpose Is Different Than Creating It
By Anne Kerhoulas
Discover your calling. Find your passion. Do what you love. Work has become increasingly tuned to self-fulfillment—you will be whole when you land the job for which you were made. But for most people, the high stakes bring anxiety, confusion, and dissatisfaction in their work.
While the concept of finding your passion is alluring, perhaps it’s a bit of a rip-off of God’s version of calling. As our Creator, God made each person with intention and purpose, placing us in families and places and situations that he ordained so that he might use us for his purpose and glory. Every Christian has two callings: our primary calling which is to love God and enjoy him forever, and our secondary calling, which is the place and ways in which we do that.
Our culture tells us that our purpose or calling is something we must discover and create. But this stands in opposition to what God says—that he knit us together in our mother’s womb, that he has made us for good works that he has prepared for us to do, that he has given us gifts that he wants us to develop and use in his kingdom and world. No, our purpose is not something that we must create, it is something for us to discover. It is already given as a gift, we only receive it and walk in it.
In this podcast for Q Ideas, Dr. Stephanie Shackelford, a senior fellow at Barna, discusses the myths of calling that most people believe, how to pursue purpose-oriented work, and four practical steps to discover and walk in your God-given purpose.
Shackelford defines purpose as all of the special activities that God has created you to perform in the world which will serve italia-meds.com. Because God has created us each with a plan in mind, he is the giver of our purpose and we are the receiver, we are not responsible for inventing ourselves, rather our identity is given and we will flourish when we walk in that identity.
Christian Union walks with students at some of the most influential universities in the nation through some of the most crucial years of discovering and choosing their vocations. Through one-on-one discipleship and a tailored Bible course for seniors on vocation, students hear the unexpected news that their careers are not about themselves and their kingdom, but rather they are about Jesus and what he wants to do through them.
Listen to the full podcast here.
