I added the picture above to the message I shared with you below.
written by Rev. Chris Gelini
We’re going to talk about how your shape affects every other area of your life – your relationships, your career, your finances, your retirement, your enjoyment, your hobbies, your recreation.
The Bible says you’re a combination of five different factors. These are the five things we’re going to be looking at: Spiritual gifts, Heart, Ability, Personality, Experiences. These five things make you, you.
Why must I understand my SHAPE? It impacts every area of your life! My goal for you is that at the end you will be able to say what Paul said, “But by the grace of God I am what I am.” [1 Corinthians 15:10]
Know that God loves you and has shaped you to fulfill His purpose for your life.
S – Spiritual gift/gifts
A. The Bible says “Each of you has your own gift from God; one has this gift, another has that. We are to use them well to serve one another.” [1 Timothy 4:10] There are at least 20 gifts listed in the Bible.
Every believer has at least one and your gift is to be used to benefit others. Every time you do something and you do it well, you do it and you enjoy doing it, you are revealing your giftedness.
H – Heart
A. It’s what drives you, what motivates you. All of us have different motivations, different drives, different interests. Would you agree there are some things you care about very deeply and there are other things you couldn’t care less about? That’s revealing your heart. This causes a lot of conflict in marriage. We have different hearts.
The Bible says, “God has put it into their hearts to accomplish his purpose.” [Revelation 17:17] The Bible says, “For it is God who works in you to will and to act according to His good purpose.” [Philipians 2:13]
B. God puts desires in your heart. The way you discover what your heart, your basic motivation in life, is to ask yourself: What do I really love to do? What is it I think about when my mind is able to think about anything? What do I really dream about? You have basic interests that God has implanted in your life in order to accomplish different things.
A – Abilities
A. [1 Corinthians 12:6], “There are different abilities to perform service.” A lot of people think they don’t have any abilities. Yes, you do. You just don’t recognize them as abilities. Researchers have shown that the average person has between 500 and 700 different kinds of abilities. That’s just an average person. If you can raise your hand that’s an ability. You have many, many kinds of abilities. God says that this is part of how He shapes us.
B. Some of you are interested in computers and some of you are scared to death of computers. Some of you have a natural ability with mechanical things. Many are good with numbers, words, speaking. Some have the ability to work with people, some in music, some can think with great ideas and abstract thoughts and put them all together.
C. We all have different abilities and they are not by accident. God gave them to you for a purpose. [Exodus 31:3], “I (God) have given him skill, ability, and knowledge in all kinds of crafts.” [2 Corinthians. 3:5], “Our competence comes from God.”
P – Personality
A. Some of you have personality with a capital P. Personality refers to three things: the way you act, the way you feel, and the way you think. The root of your personality is the way you think, because the way you think determines the way you feel and the way you feel usually determines the way you act. Even the Bible says the root of your personality is your thought life. [Proverbs 4:23] “Your life is shaped by your thoughts.”
B. Everybody agrees that personality is very complex. Researchers have discovered there are at least 18,000 different personality traits. When you put those in combinations, the combinations are endless.
E - Experiences
A. God plans experiences in your life to help shape you. [Romans 8:28], “And we know that all that happens to us is working for our good if we love God and are fitting into His plans.” God is both organized and purposeful in planning the personal experiences He prepares for us. He uniquely allows things in your life. He doesn’t cause them all but He sees them and He allows even the bad to bring good out of your life. He wants to work though your experiences.
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