Vision beyond Self

     This morning's study was title Futility. I'm apart of a group of men that meet on Wednesday mornings and go through a particular subject. The group is anywhere from 60-100 men. The idea this morning was that if we don't align our lives with God's order and purpose, we live a life that is filled with frustration, pointlessness, or a lack of fulfillment. What caught me was that we have misconceptions about calling. If we think that God has one specific calling to our lives and we don't find that one thing, our lives can feel meaningless.   

    Today reminded me of an exercise I went through about 3 years ago with a group of men that I work with about refining your personal vision. We were presented with 3 methods to work on this. I used the six step method developed by Ken Blanchard. It started with writing down a few words that describe your strengths, then moved to values that guide you and what would happen if you lived your life with this purpose. We went through a few more steps and this is what I ended up with. Living an abundant life, building God's Kingdom for future generations to bring the love of Christ into the culture I live in. From someone on the outside it may not define much of what I'm doing. The abundant life and building God's Kingdom are vague terms. 

    There were 3 things from this morning that struck me. Calling is not a specific job. My job is only part of my life, but my vision can guide me in my work. Calling is not about personal fulfillment. If I added something about an abundant life, that would be too defining. It would also be too much about me, and not about Christ's Kingdom. The third thing was that I sometimes think that there is only one path for my vision. God has placed me in this culture for His glory. And by "this" culture I mean exactly where God has placed me. My culture (even if we live next door to each other- or the same house) is different than yours. God has placed you in this time and place for His glory and His Kingdom. Develop a personal vision statement that gives you purpose and meaning, and live life to the fullest. (for the Kingdom of Jesus Christ). 


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