The Discovery: Exploring God’s Call On Your Life Sample

“The Assignment: Where do I rank?” As you discover your assignment, you may be tempted to compare it with someone else’s and/or try to estimating your place/rank on a nonexistent spiritual ladder. Be very careful. To do so is to take your focus off of Christ and put it on the assignment itself. Sure, some assignments might carry more responsibility than others or garner more respect/honor from people, but all are essential to His plan. As Jesus’ Holy Spirit is at the heart of every assignment, equipping and working through each believer, no assignment is any more/less important than any other. Back in Paul’s day, in the Jewish community, ministering to other Jews would have seemed a more important job than ministering among the Gentiles, but Paul disagreed, reminding them that all ministry is equal. Comparing ourselves to one another would be okay if our ultimate goal was to become like other believers, but it isn’t. Our goal is to become like Christ. This being true, we should only ever compare ourselves to Him, allowing Him to judge our progress and work and the progress and work of others. Competition within the Body is counterproductive and causes us to become proud, judgmental, envious, and/or discouraged. It causes division that hinders the ministry of Jesus Christ. Respond to the following in your journal: Do you struggle with comparing yourself to others? Does it help to know that no assignment is any more important than another? Explain. What did you learn through Bible study today? How were you encouraged? How were you challenged?