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Transcript:
Hello, welcome to Walking in Step with God. I am Steve McDonald. Today we explore the topic “Discover Yourself Through Faith” as we kick off a brand new series “Finding Your Way to Faith”. In this series, we are going to explore the journey we take from being fully in the world to walking hand in hand with God. I am so excited about this series, because it touches on a journey we have all started and continue to walk each day. This series is for everyone – regardless of where they stand in their relationship with God, because I believe we all seek to know God in a more intimate way. I also realize there may be those of you who may not be seeking God, but are curious about God or on the fence about God and how He can transform your life. I welcome all of you to this series and I hope and pray that you are guided to the answers that you seek.
In today’s message, we are going to focus on what we can discover about ourselves through faith. I think most of us feel as though we know who we are and know every facet of ourselves, but what does God know about us? What are the parts of our being that we have yet to know, but God knows? Let’s explore what we can learn from the One who created us – as we seek to be one step closer to Him.
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Welcome back. Let’s continue in our discussion of ways to discover ourselves through faith.
Gifts
First, I would like to discuss the idea of our gifts. Regardless of what stage of life you are in, you likely have an idea of your strengths. You may have learned that you have a unique set of skills. Perhaps, you even have a strong sense of what you are passionate about in life – pursuing training or education to refine these skills to be a foundation for a career.
For example, one thing I have learned about myself is that I love building things. I believe it has to do with my passion for problem solving. As a young boy, I spent hours upon hours playing with building blocks and erector sets – because I could mix and match parts and use my imagination to build something new. As an adult, my passion and skills led me to a career in software development, where I have worked as a programmer for over 25 years. This skill not only affects my career, but also my entertainment and play time. I love playing computer games that have to do with building and constructing. I have literally invested thousands of hours over the years in these games. So, clearly I know that I love building things.
Even though I knew of these skills, I would learn so much more when I asked God to help me to learn more about my gifts. These are skills and special talents that He has planted in me, some of which were unbeknownst to me and some which I knew, but did not realize the full potential. Yes, of course, building and problem solving were among these gifts, but in my walk of faith He has also revealed -applications- around problem solving that I hadn’t considered. He also revealed my gifts that have to do with interactions with others, such as gifts around patience, understanding, compassion, and grace.
Ask God to help you understand the gifts He has planted within you. You may learn new aspects of skills you already are aware of, but He may also reveal gifts you hadn’t even considered. He can reveal to you parts of yourself that will be instrumental in how you live out a life of faith and be a faithful servant to Him.
Opportunities for Growth
So we have talked a bit about our skills and gifts, but what about the other areas of ourselves that have room for improvement? Are there parts of your personality that you know may be unfavorable or unflattering? Maybe, there are habits that you recognize may be unhelpful at the very least and potentially even harmful.
Look, this is not meant to cast judgement, but let’s just be honest with ourselves. Is there anything about you that you know could use improvement? Maybe, there are elements of yourself that simply are opportunities for growth. Specifically, opportunities to bring you closer in alignment with what God knows you can do and be.
I would like to be a bit vulnerable and explain a little about myself and my past. Before my walk with God, and before I found faith, I know quite well that I had the tendency to be selfish, inconsiderate, and even abusive to myself and others. I am embarrassed and ashamed of my past behavior. Looking back, it is difficult for me to wrap my head around some things I have done – but then again I realize also I was turned away from God in almost every facet of my life. This was a time in my life that I had many opportunities for growth and improvement.
I am not suggesting I am squeaky clean now. My faith has led me on a path to turn away from the behaviors that had me immersed in the way the world does things – but there are still parts of my personality and habits that have opportunity for growth and room for improvement.
At this stage of my faith, I recognize the value of asking God to reveal to me and guide me to the opportunities I have to not only improve as a human being but also to make changes in my life that will bring me even closer to Him.
I invite you to ask God to reveal the parts of you that have opportunities for growth and improvement. Don’t worry, God loves you more than you can fathom regardless of what you have done up until this -very- moment, but He can also reveal to you the areas of your life that you can grow as a human being. If you ask Him, he will show you ways that you can resemble Him and His ways. If there are habits that you know are unhelpful or even unhealthy, you can ask Him to lead you and help you to eliminate the habits that are harmful to yourself and others. Ask God to help you in ways that will bring you even closer to Him.
His Plans and Purpose for Your Life
The last item I would like to discuss today has to do with God’s plans and purpose for you and your life. For each and every one of us, God has planted everything we need to fulfill the plans and purpose that He has in store for us.
We all will face a journey in life that starts with a lack of awareness and knowledge, but hopefully, prayerfully will lead us to learn of our gifts and our purpose. I believe most of us can learn about our gifts early in life, but we may have challenges or difficulty learning about our true purpose and calling.
For example, I explained to you a little earlier in this message that I knew as a child of my love and passion for problem solving and building. This gift would stay with me my entire life, into my career and even into my entertainment and play time. What I didn’t know is that at -this- phase of my life I would be speaking to you! I had -absolutely- no idea of the calling God put on my life to be in ministry. How do I know it is a calling? Because working in ministry and serving God in ministry is one of the most fulfilling things I have ever done in my life, if not the most fulfilling.
God has placed a calling and purpose on your life as well. You may have a hint or idea of what it is or you may have no knowledge whatsoever. The good news is that you can ask God to lead and guide you to His plans and purpose for you in your life. Being in ministry has helped me to learn about parts of myself that I would have never known had I not entered into ministry. I suspect the same is true for you. There are plans that God has in store for you that will reveal parts of yourself to you that you may be completely unaware of – but that God has known all along.
Ask God today to show you His plans and purpose for your life. Ask Him to show you the parts of you that are meant to bring you in alignment with His plans and help you to fulfill your purpose. Serving God, especially aligned with His plans for you, can be the most rewarding experience in your walk of faith.
Wrap Up
In today’s message, we explored ways to discover ourselves through faith. We learned how our God-given gifts can be used to bring meaning and purpose into our lives, through our work, through our play and even through helping others. We discussed the idea that all of us have room for improvement and growth. Our habits and our personalities can be helpful and they can be harmful. We learned that God can help us to identify the areas that show room for improvement and can bring us closer to our walk with Him. Lastly, we discussed the idea that God has plans and a purpose for each of us. Often, we learn of some of our gifts in the natural progression of life, but often it can be difficult to know our purpose. Thankfully, God can steer us to the path that is most aligned with His perfect plans for us. We need only ask Him.
God is fully aware of every part of us. He knows the exact number of hairs on our head and He knows the innermost desires of our heart. We are all fallible and may not always know what is best for us, but God always knows. Let us be sure to turn to God to help us to learn more about ourselves and what it will take to be stronger in our lives, stronger in our faith, and closer in our walk with Him.
Are you interested in discovering more about the guidance offered in this message? Learn more in the companion article Going Deeper with the Word: Discover Yourself Through Faith
