There is one body and one Spirit – just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call – one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. – Ephesians 4:4-6
Recently, I read an interesting “inspirational” quote: “Figure out what you love to do – what God gave you a heart to do – and then do it for His glory.” I had to stop and think about whether this quote represented biblical truth. For example, what if the middle part was deleted: “Figure out what you love to do and then do it for His glory”?
Wouldn’t this suggest that our desires and preferences are always good and God-glorifying? As if what we liked / loved could always be shaped or shoe-horned into something that glorifies God? Then, I thought, maybe the quote was intended to emphasize the middle part, like: God gives His people a heart to do stuff, figure out what He has given to your heart, love it because He gave it to you, and then do it for His glory.
It still made me wonder how I would know whether what I loved in my heart was given to me by God or by someone else (including maybe by me). Hearts seem too fickle to be trusted with the important task of knowing what to do for God’s glory. So, I think that the quote needs revision: “Figure out what God loves done – what Jesus has done and what the Holy Spirit places in the hearts of His people through His Word – and then do it for His glory.”
After all, God tells us in His Word what we are to love: Love your God and love your neighbor. Sure, maybe my quote is not as snappy and clever as the one that I had read on the internet. But, it seems a lot closer to what Paul said to the Ephesians: I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. – Ephesians 4:1-3
“Figure out what you have been called to do, and then do it for His glory.” Then, you don’t need a middle part, because God already gives His people a heart for their calling.
After all, if you love bearing one another in love and practicing humility & patience, then you don’t need to figure out what you love to do. You could just do it. And if you do love doing these things, I am confident that your heart would confess that you came to love doing them only by the work of the Holy Spirit. So, yes, in humility and unity, figure out what you love to do. There is one body and one Spirit – just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call. Pray that God transforms your heart to love. And then do it for His glory.
Do you need more specifics? Recently, I wrote a column on Christian forgiveness. If you are a Christian, then forgiveness is your calling. “All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to Himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation” (2 Corinthians 5:18). So, figure out that you love to reconcile and do it for His glory. You can start by going to a neighbor and asking for forgiveness in Christ’s name. If you do this, you will find that you love to reconcile – and you will find that the church is one body and one spirit.
Not there yet?
Repent: Ask for forgiveness. God loves when you do this. Our community needs this.
