Clarifying Your Mission Statement*

1. Pray about your calling and mission. Ask God to reveal his purpose to you.  Journal about your reflections. What have you concluded?

2. List several examples of times in your life when you knew you were on purpose, sensing that this was what you were called to do. For each of these, write why the experience was so special. Eric Liddle felt God’s pleasure when he was running? In which, if any, of these experiences did you sense God’s pleasure in what you were experiencing or doing? What do these reflections tell you about yourself and your life mission?

3. Look at the themes in the above exercise (number 2)? What is similar about the experiences? How does this help you form a mission statement?

4. Repeat the above two steps only start with examples of times when you did something that was highly successful, acclaimed, and/or something that you sensed was genuinely blessed by God.

5. Complete this statement: I __________ to __________. In the first blank write what you do best based on your strengths, passions, gifts, and values. In the second, write why you do this. Here are some examples:
· I teach to help disabled kids.
· I mentor inner city kids to give them hope and life skills.
· I do research to help doctors treat cancer.
· I work around the church and neighborhood to serve Christ, help others and bring improvements.

6. On one page, if possible, list the basics of your worldview, your key values, passions, strengths, personality traits, and spiritual gifts. Summarize this in two brief sentences. What does this say about your mission in life?

7. Ask the people who know you best what they see as your mission in life. Pool the answers. The people who surround you may be the best sources of information about what they see God doing in your life and how he is using you.

* Some of these exercises are adapted from the books by Williams and Menendez and by Laura Whitworth, et. al.
Copyright © Gary R. Collins, 2009, Used with Permission