Editor’s Note: We are excited to welcome Sunni Gressock to the table today as a guest blogger! Sunni has been on staff at Grace Church, Bath Campus, in Ohio for more than 8 years, serving now as their Outreach and Connections Manager. She will be joining us at the Moms Weekend at Camp Carl on September 8, 9, & 10 to talk about our S.H.A.P.E. Want to learn how you uniquely fit into the story of God? Read Sunni’s post below, and also check out Moms Weekend by clicking here. We would love to see you there!
What happens when we don’t know our purpose? That’s a loaded question and unique to each of us. Without purpose do you become apathetic? Or maybe angry? Lazy? What about being someone that gets jealous of the people around you that seem to have direction? If I am being completely vulnerable, without purpose I tend to take on the identity of those around me that have found theirs. My individuality disappears altogether.
I was listening to a podcast and this man lost his wife and child in a car accident. I can’t even begin to imagine the pain he was feeling. The complete hopelessness. He went through all the motions to try and “get better,” but as you can imagine, nothing really worked. He said in the podcast he was ready to give up and asked his therapist if he would ever be happy again. She told him that the goal is not for him to be happy. The goal was for this man to find his purpose. That statement changed his life.
Purpose is so much more than a word or an idea. Purpose is what gets us up in the morning. It’s what drives us. It’s what guides all our life decisions. It’s what brings us joy. It’s what changes us.
Our purpose is Jesus.
“Teacher, which is the most important commandment in the law of Moses?” Jesus replied, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.” (Matthew 22: 36-40)
So, does that mean we all have the same purpose? Well, kind of! BUT! The cool thing about God is he has created us all uniquely. He is powerful enough to use each little nuisance thing about us to bring glory to himself and to reach others. I used to think that the way God wired me (my gifts, abilities, experiences, and passions) WERE my purpose, but that is completely backwards. Those things are how God has equipped me to fulfill my purpose.
One collective purpose, executed individually by harnessing our God given uniqueness.
When we function in our purpose, we are comfortable enough to use what God has given us to uniquely serve people and bring the hope of Jesus to those who don’t know him yet. We don’t get apathetic, angry, lazy, or jealous. We fight together as brothers and sisters in Christ to bring the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the people who desperately need to know him. We do hard things and encourage one another in the process. We sharpen one another and build each other up in our own gifts and abilities. Understanding that God wants to use each and every one of us uniquely to build his kingdom.
So, you know your purpose. Are you ready to uniquely fulfill it?
— Sunni Gressock (c) July 2023
This is encouraging, and I love the “mom’s weekend” idea.