A personal mission statement offers perspective on one’s identity and goals, as well as enables a person to set goals for how they plan to use their gifts and talents for the purpose of serving their generation. Writing down your personal mission statement helps you to see on paper what you yourself are about and where you’re trying to get to. Knowing who you are is important in life, and knowing where you’re trying to get to, and how you’re going to get there keeps you focused. In the past 5 weeks I have pointed out 5 things to keep in mind when thinking about your personal mission statement:

1). Do You Really Know Who You Are?- What people know of themselves comes from what they have been told of themselves, and sometimes what they have been told is poor worldly advice. Do you know who you are and what wonderful things you can do in the world- outside of what people are telling you about yourself?

2). A Line in the Sand- There comes a time in life where we have to draw a line in the sand between what has burdened us or once defined us in the past, from where we’re trying to get to. We can’t move forward if we’re still trying to hold onto the past.

3). Spitting Image- Who we are a spitting image of shows what’s really going on inside our hearts [our root system].

4). Being Mentally Prepared- It’s important in life that we be mentally fit for all sorts of situations. When we’re mentally prepared it shows that we also have great faith in God. And it’s also a big part of knowing who we are so that we can have a stellar personal mission statement.

5). A Refined Character- If people realize with their hearts and minds that they are (or can be) powerful people of God, then they walk forward with their dreams and desires with more boldness. But we often need a refiners fire (challenges that try us) to light us up so that we can come out as pure gold.

This week as I end this series, I will address “Dying to Self to Help Others.” As believers in Jesus, we know a large part of our Christian faith is people. We’ve all been called to serve. Jesus came for people, to save us and to heal us. That’s what His ministry was about: people. And He has commanded us to do the same- to sit with the sick, to visit the imprisoned, to befriend the lonely, to care for the widow and orphan, to make disciples of men, and to love our neighbor like we love ourselves.

A personal mission statement that does not include a mission and aim to uplift others, and to put them before ourselves is a personal mission statement that is weak and lagging character.

Do you recall in Mark 10 [you will also find the same story in Matthew 19] when Jesus met the rich young ruler? This man was rich, but he was wanting more. He wanted to know what he had to do to inherit eternal life. Jesus lists commandments that he shouldn’t break and the ruler happily acknowledged that he hadn’t broken any of them. But then Jesus pointed out one thing that ruler hadn’t done- sell all his possessions and give them to the poor. The ruler was dumbfounded. This was something that he [the ruler] couldn’t do, and he walked away saddened.

Sometimes as Christians, we can become so busy in our 9-5 jobs that we forget there is suffering going on around us. We can all help our fellow men in some way. If you don’t have time to volunteer but you have money, give money to help the poor, orphan, refugee or widow. If you don’t have money, but you have time to volunteer, give time to help that poor person in your community or church get clothes or food, or take that orphan to a day at the park, serve food at the refugee shelter, or visit someone that you know who’s in prison. If we have special skills to offer others then we should use them. Can God trust you with the Gospel mission? Can God trust you to live a truly authentic Christian life?

When we die to self and help others we feel good inside, we are examples to those around us who might want to do the same, and God will bless us with our own needs if we put others first.

A personal mission statement that doesn’t include others is only about us and it’s selfish. May we never lose sight that the gifts and talents we have been given are not solely for our own glory and to just enjoy the finer things in life. Rather, God has also given them to us for the purpose of serving our generation. That means God is expecting us to be involved in our communities, actively helping the less fortunate and sharing our communities; and actively helping the less fortunate and sharing His Son with them.

Happy Friday!