God wants us to have a new perspective when it comes to life experiences

1. Use your experiences to learn humility.

Matthew 5 [3] Blessed are the poor in spirit, because the kingdom of heaven is theirs.

2. Use your experiences to help you trust God even when you don’t understand what’s going on.

2 Corinthians 1 [9] This happened so we might learn to trust not in ourselves, but in God.

When you’re flat on your back the only place that you can look is up. Often, that’s the place where God gets our attention.

3. Use your experiences to build character.

Romans 5:4 “We know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance character; and character, hope.”

4. Use your experiences to accomplish God’s purpose in your life.

2 Corinthians 1 [3] All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is our merciful Father and the source of all comfort. [4] He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us.

Romans 8 [28] And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.

You know what’s awesome about the ending of the story of Job? He humbled himself before God, He learned to trust God, he grew in character and he forgave his friends. He did all of this … and … he did this all before something incredible happened to him: The story of Job ends with God blessing him twofold … God doubled everything that Job had … What God made you to BE determines what God intends for you to DO. God didn’t just WIRE you so you could be unique. He did it so your life would matter. So that you could have significance and impact and meaning with your life because you use it to help others. It’s time to explore and use your own personal wiring for God.

RETHINK HOW YOU USE YOUR TALENTS AND ABILITIES

1. Recognize that every talent and ability is given by God.

2. Use your talents and abilities for God’s glory.

Colossians 3 [17] And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him… Anything can be done, any of the abilities given can be used for the glory for God.

3. Discover God’s plan for your life by using your talents and abilities.

Philippians 1 [6] … being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

God wired us for a purpose. We’re called to glorify Him and serve Him - to know Him and care for others. The talents and abilities that He gave us determine His plan for our lives.

It’s obvious that we all have a different mix of abilities — so we need to recognize that and realize that God has given us those talents and abilities to use for him – first and foremost. Even though we may have different abilities and different ways that we use those abilities, the Bible shows us that there is something that God wants all us to become. He shows in one of the most famous stories in the New Testament – the Story of the Good Samaritan … in Luke 10:25-37.

We are all familiar with the Good Samaritan story in Luke 10 … you can summarize it like this …
The robber came along and said to the guy hurting on the side of the road …

What’s yours is mine and I’m going to take it!

Then the priest and Levite cam along and said …
What’s mine is mine and I’m going to keep it!

But then the Good Samaritan came along and said to the hurting guy on the side of the road and said …
What’s mine is yours and I’m going to give it to you!

God is trying to tell us that finding real fulfillment and finding real purpose in life comes from having a contributor mindset … not a consumer mindset. God wants us to use our talents and abilities to serve and care for others.

Jesus understood personality and dealt differently with individual styles. For instance, Mary and Martha had very different personalities. We’re introduced to them in Luke 10:38. Mary, Martha and their brother Lazarus all lived in the same house in a little town in 1st century Palestine called Bethany – just a couple of miles from Jerusalem. All three were single and Martha appears to have been the head of the household.

In v.39, Mary listened to Jesus. She was more of a Golden Retriever = people-oriented, calm, easy-going, dependable, and quiet. In v.40, Martha shows that she’s a Lion = task-oriented, practical, productive, strong-willed, independent, decisive, a leader. How did Jesus deal with these two different styles? In v. 41, Jesus “care”fronts Martha in her weakness of being overly task-oriented.

In another passage in John 11, Jesus deals with the death of their brother Lazarus. In 11:21-27, Martha, the Lion, challenges Jesus; Jesus is firm with her and connects with her style by teaching her. In 11:32-37, Mary, the Golden Retriever, is upset so Jesus weeps with her and connects with her style or personality.

Understanding someone’s style helps us get along better with them and even get into their shoes the way Jesus did. At TCU, we want to be a church where we appreciate each other and foster an environment where people truly experience the love of Jesus for them.

There is no right or wrong style or temperament. There is no right personality or wrong personality. God has given your personality and He did it for a purpose.

There are lots of different ways you could classify personality. Scientists and psychologists have been trying to do it for years. There’s the MMPI — Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory. There’s the Myers-Briggs Survey. There’s the Taylor-Johnson Temperament Analysis. There are many different ways and all of these ways are helpful but they’re all limited because you’re unique. For simplicity, I’m using something that a marriage counselor and author names Dr. Gary Smalley came up with in his book … Making Love Last Forever. He compares four styles or personality types to four different animals. Your style may be one of these animals or a combination of the animals.

LION – extroverted and task-oriented, Visionary, practical, productive, strong-willed, independent, decisive, leader

OTTER – extroverted and people-oriented; Outgoing, responsive, warm, friendly, talkative, enthusiastic, compassionate

GOLDEN RETRIEVER – introverted and people-oriented; Calm, easy-going, dependable, quiet, objective, diplomatic, humorous

BEAVER – introverted and task-oriented, Analytical, self-disciplined, industrious, organized, aesthetic, sacrificing

Basically, we all tend to be strong in one of these areas or have a combination of them.