Part 5: Practical Ways to Live Out Your God-Given Purpose

In Part 4, we began discussing four critical areas (shown below) that help us effectively live out our purpose, where the foundation for it all, our relationship with the Lord, was explored in detail.

In Part 5, we will focus on the practical ways we can walk in our purpose through our daily lives, including personal growth, utilizing our gifts and talents, and identifying practical paths of engagement.

Let’s go!

2. Level of Personal Growth

I don’t know about you but in my experience, when God calls me to do something, I almost always never have the skills, capacity, understanding, wisdom, knowledge, courage, or just about anything, to actually do it.

I maybe able to get started on it but I quickly come to the realization that I need a lot more growth to accomplish what I believe God is asking of me.

Actually sometimes, it even feels funny when I begin to (barely) grasp the gap between where I stand versus where I am called to go.

It seems as though the God of the universe did not have a gauge on my current capabilities and my character. Because if He did understand, why would he ever ask me to do something like this?

How in the world did He think that I could even begin to think, act, pursue, and accomplish what He is calling me to do?

Eventually, and quite frankly, it makes me wonder:
Did I actually hear from God?
Or was it just my imagination… or a random fantasy?

Needless to say, in moments like these, and even throughout the journey, I feel stretched, challenged, and a lot of times, deeply discouraged, incompetent, and inadequate.

It makes me scared of the road ahead of me and sometimes, it is strong enough to paralyze me from taking the steps I need to move forward.

However, in all reality, what is truly happening here is me finding myself tested most in two important areas.

Two simultaneous battles that are very much intertwined and interconnected.

One in the spiritual realm.
And the other in the practical.

In spiritual realm, the battle is usually about trusting that God knows what He is doing and believing that because He loves me, He will walk with me every step of the way. That He will refine me, prepare me, and ultimately qualify me for what He has called me to do.

Because God does qualify the called.

In the practical and physical realm, my battle is twofold. And both are just as important.

First part of the battle depends on how much or to what extent my current level of self-discipline, spiritual and practical rhythms, intentional living, focus, consistency, skills, and effort can support what God has called me do. This is about my current growth level.

While the second part is about my willingness to to adapt, stretch, and mature in these areas, especially in self-discipline, consistency, and faithful stewardship to become capable of what God has called me to do. In other words, it’s about my future growth level that will support my calling!

In other words, what I am truly getting at is this:

If the foundation of my relationship with the Lord is in place, though I’m not even sure that’s fully possible apart from the practical disciplines that sustain it, the question is no longer just about the calling itself, but about my capacity to walk it out.

Because the reality is

Both my current and future capacities matter when it comes to walking out my calling. And honestly, I think that’s the point. The challenge is essential to push, plant, and mature me into the person capable of carrying what God has called me to do.

And the key to succeeding in this effort? Our good ole’ habits!

Habits of the past.
Habits right now.
Habits of the future.

Because our past, current, and future growth all work together to support this beautiful journey!

Regardless of how much we want to accept this aspect of our calling, in terms of human effort, we must come to the terms that our habits determine whether we remain inspired by our calling… or actually grow into the person capable of carrying it.

I don’t know if you noticed this about your life but in my life, the enemy’s attacks are threefold, all aimed at the same thing – our habits.

The attacks of the enemy could be

• Direct, where I resort to my vice, i.e., my go-to sin, or
• Indirect, where I become incredibly busy and distracted, or
• Subtle, where I feel discouraged, hopeless, or overwhelmed about the future.

Irrespective of the nature of his attacks, his goal is to disrupt our habits, which in turn slowly weaken the very disciplines, rhythms, and consistency required to sustain us in our calling.

If you didn’t think your good habits are at constant attack, take a hard look at your life. Think about the last time you seemed to have a detour in your walk with the Lord. I will bet that it started with an attack in the natural which eventually would have deterred you from the good habits you that made you effective towards your purpose!

Because of this, every decision we make to steward our habits becomes critical, no matter the area of our life, to remain and increase our effectiveness towards our purpose.

Every thought matters. Every moment matters. Every decision matters.

They are all either forming you into someone who is effective in your calling or slowly shaping you into someone who is not.

If you want a practical way to understand your current and future levels of growth needed towards your purpose, I have created a Level of Personal Growth Assessment Worksheet.

This sheet will help you honestly evaluate how your habits are being strengthened, weakened, or targeted, and how your current and future growth supports your calling. It will also help you identify direct, indirect, and subtle attacks, assess your spiritual and practical disciplines, and intentionally build habits that strengthen your purpose.

Take time with it, pray through it, and revisit it often, because clarity about your habits is often the first step toward practically walking in your calling.

3. Use of Gifts and Talents

Talking about gifts and talents could be hard for some of us as it forces you to acknowledge that you could be good at something. For whatever reason.

Personally, I think of charisma as the gift we have grace for. From God.

The things we are naturally good at, they are hard to identify. Because duh, they come natural to us.

They are not something we have to work hard to exhibit. So, they don’t seem anything out of the ordinary to us. But they come easy to us than others. And vice versa.

For instance, some people naturally connect with others.
Some naturally speak in a way that moves people.
Some are naturally very analytical in nature. Math maybe their favorite.
Some make others feel seen, comfortable, and engaged.
Some can build things easy.

This is why, charisma can be defined as a natural ability to attract, influence, or inspire people through your presence, personality, or communication.

I am not implying that we don’t need to do anything get better at our natural gifts and talents. We must in fact work very hard to become great at what comes natural to us.

But there is still grace attached to these gifts, whether through early exposure, repeated practice, personal interest, life experiences, or even circumstances God allowed in our lives.

At the end of the day, these gifts and talents are given to us by God’s grace to become effective towards our purpose.

I have created this simple worksheet to assess your gifts and talents and explore how they maybe useful to act on your purpose!

4. Practical Paths of Engagement

So far, we have talked about how our relationship with the Lord, our level of personal growth, and our gifts and talents work together in fulfilling our purpose. Now, it is time to bring everything together and begin walking in it in tangible ways through practical paths of engagement.

No matter what our purpose is, the fruit of us walking in it must reach the people we are called to serve in some practical way. For some, this may look like leading Bible studies. For others, it may be through a podcast, a book, worship music, artwork, mentorship, business, or any practical avenue through which the people they are called to can be reached and impacted.

But where do we begin? And what exactly do we do?

These questions caused me to stumble many times because I did not know where to start or what direction to take. But again, reflecting on my walk with the Lord, I can clearly see how the Lord has already laid foundations for this in my life already. I am sure He has done the same for you as well.

To understand this aspect of your calling, it maybe best to think about the various outlets through which you can express your calling.

Practical engagement in our calling is not one single path, but the combination of

• Daily faithfulness,
• Stewardship of what we already have,
• Service to others,
• Expression of our gifts,
• The environments we are placed in,
• Seasons of growth, and
• The influence that gradually flows from maturity.

In summary, using ChatGPT to help create this infographic, the various practical paths of engagement are shown below.

I did not create a separate worksheet to help you identify your practical paths of engagement (praise God!), because I believe this image can be printed and used as an infographic worksheet on its own. So don’t skip the reflection part! Please lean in and allow God to clarify how to practically engage in your purpose.

That, my friends is all I want to talk about God-given purpose! Yay! we have finally come to the end of this series!

In Closing…

As we close this series, remember that walking in your God-given purpose is not about striving to figure everything out at once, but about faithfully growing in your relationship with the Lord and responding to Him step by step. Stay close to the Lord, take faithful steps, and trust that He will guide you right where you need to be.

Now go forward in faith, because the truth is, your purpose is already in motion with God! 🙂