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Do you believe that God’s purpose for your life is better than any purpose you could construct for yourself? If so, what implications does this have for you?
While Scripture provides us only glimpses of God’s ultimate purposes in creating the cosmos, the Word does reveal God’s universal purpose for believers. In short, this purpose is to know Christ and to make him known.
God also has a unique purpose for each of us, and this relates to our SHAPE (or, spiritual gifts; heart; abilities; personality; and experiences). 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 provides the context for God’s unique purposes for our lives, and reminds us to develop an eternal perspective so we will have a passion to give our lives in exchange for the things God tells us will endure.
This week’s devotions provide examples from Caleb, Paul, and Rick Warren on the importance of purpose & passion to leadership:
Caleb
What is it about some leaders? They seem to have that extra “oomph!” The secret? Passion! Enthusiasm!
Caleb was that kind of leader. His “secret” was a secret to no one. Three times his brief biography states that Caleb “followed the Lord…wholeheartedly” (from Joshua 14 in verses 8, 9, and 14). He was enthusiastic, gutsy, and passionate about proving what the Lord could do through one who trusted him completely.
Passion and clear purpose served Caleb well for his many years. And these two qualities are still an essential part of Out of This World Leadership.
Paul
Paul accomplished an astounding amount in two decades of ministry. What made him tick? What drove him to carry out the work he did? Philippians 3:7-9 explodes with Paul’s passion for his calling.
Before his dramatic conversion relayed in Acts 9, Paul followed a different purpose in life. As a Pharisee, Paul attained the highest level of standing. He could have boasted about his religious training, heritage, and practice. He was in every sense a “Hebrew of Hebrew,” and his credentials would have impressed the most devout Jew. Yet Paul considered all he had attained through religious effort to be garbage compared with the value of knowing Christ.
What’s your purpose, your passion, the one thing that you stand for above all else? Take a look at Paul’s statements again and see how your purpose in life stacks up against his.
Rick Warren
In his excellent book The Purpose Driven Church, Rick Warren articulates the importance of translating our purpose into practical strategies. While he was writing about churches, his counsel is invaluable to leaders of any enterprise:
Program around your purposes. Design a program to fulfill each of your purposes.
Educate your people on purpose. Change doesn’t happen by chance.
Start small groups on purpose. Rather than forcing a “one size fits all” mentality, allow people to choose the small group that best fits their needs.
Add staff on purpose. Rather than just hiring people who possess character and competence, leaders should look for staff with a passion for the organization. People with passion are self-motivated.
Structure on purpose. Develop structures or teams that work together to systematically fulfill the purpose of the organization.
Evaluate on purpose. Warren notes that “in a purpose driven church, your purposes are the standard by which you evaluate effectiveness.”
Apply these strategies to your team or organization, and you will notice results–both the people and the organization will grow stronger!
As John Maxwell says in his book Be All You Can Be, purpose helps you:
Pray more than the ordinary person
Unite more than the ordinary person
Risk more than the ordinary person
Plan more than the ordinary person
Observe more than the ordinary person
Sacrifice more than the ordinary person
Expect more than the ordinary person