Whole-Life Ministry—A Form of Worship, Grace-Giving, and Living into Your Calling
Author: Shirley Giles Davis
The God. Gifts. You. Your Unique Calling and Design workbook is intended to help you and your church live more fully into the adventure of living as a community of Christ-followers. As you explore your calling, purpose, and discover and understand your unique, God-given spiritual gifts, you will see your whole life as ministry, not just what is done in the context of Sunday or church or even serving.
Scripture is full of robust explanations of why we engage together in the work of the Lord:
Everything you do can be valued as working for God:
· Colossians 3:23-24 Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.
You will find joy in servanthood:
· Isaiah 65:14 My servants will sing out of the joy of their hearts…
· Luke 10:1, 17 After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go…17 The seventy-two returned with joy…
· John 15:10-12 If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.
Your service is a form of worship:
· Romans 12:1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.
You are a grace-giver:
· 1 Peter 4:10 Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.
You are invited into God’s call to serve:
· Ephesians 4:11-13 So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that that body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
Your life is an adventure of discovering and using how God has uniquely gifted you:
· 1 Corinthians 12:7-11 Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines.
And, you are an integral part of the unique, diverse community that is the Body of Christ—the church:
· 1 Corinthians 12:4-6, 12, 14, 18-20, 27
· 4 There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. 5 There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. 6 There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work.
· 12 Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ…14 Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.
· 18 But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. 19 If they were all one part, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many parts, but one body….27 Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.
For more on this, explore GodGiftsYou.com.
Shirley Giles Davis, author of the God. Gifts. You. Your Unique Calling and Design workbook, is a consultant, coach, facilitator who has worked with faith-based organizations, nonprofit agencies, and law enforcement leadership for over 30 years. She has worked with leaders and organizations in 47 of the United States as well as having clients outside the U.S. Contact Shirley.