Purpose and Calling. What's the difference?
Through this summer I’m going to be taking some older posts and rewriting them for this season of Simple Deep Life. I encourage you to share and send some TRUTH to other women in ministry that you know! Let’s stick together, sisters!
If you’ve spent some time here, you’ve noticed the tagline of Simple Deep Life.
Learning to live simply and deeply to fulfill your life's purpose and calling.
Today, I want to begin to dissect that with you. What exactly IS purpose? How do we find our calling?
Our purpose is the thing for which we are designed. It is the objective for which God ordained our time and place in history. Our ultimate purpose is to know and glorify God. This was why He created Adam and Eve in the garden, as intelligent beings who could reason and deeply know His love. I believe that God also gives each of us a specific set of talents and treasures to steward in this world as we live out the unique purpose for our individual lives. This is the purpose that Bible dictionaries define as “deliberate intention”. The question is not, “What is my role here on earth?”, but, more specifically, “What has God uniquely gifted me for and placed me here to do in this time of history?”
Question for you as a woman in ministry:
Do you know your purpose? Have you explored deeply what the Lord would have you do in this season of your life? How does that purpose relate to what you’re doing in ministry?
Proverbs 20:18 tells us that “Every purpose is established by counsel.” There is great value and wisdom in seeking godly counsel as you set out to uncover these unique qualities that God has given you! The Hebrew word for “purpose” in Proverbs 20:18 denotes “intention” as well. God has a specific intention for creating you and placing you in this time of history. We find these qualities within your experiences, abilities, passions, and values. If you’ve never had a chance to explore those things and feel a bit confused as to what YOUR unique qualities are and HOW you can use them in ministry, let me come alongside you! That’s what I love to do as a biblical life coach; connect Scriptural truth to women that want to pour themselves out in Kingdom work!

Our calling is the invitation that God gives us to partner with Him in His work. This calling begins with the invitation to accept salvation and enter new life as a part of His Kingdom. It’s also His invitation to accept the vocation of being a part of His kingdom and fulfill your functional role within that kingdom. We can think of it as the HOW of living out your purpose. It doesn’t have to be your literal vocation or ministry role, but it is through this calling that the uniqueness of what God has designed you to do is lived out. I don’t know about you, but I think that’s pretty amazing stuff! And I have the JOY and HONOR of helping women discover their unique purpose and embrace their personal calling to be part of God’s Kingdom work right where they are!
Again, this takes effort to understand and flesh out! Peter encourages his readers in 2 Peter 1:10 to, “Give all diligence to make your calling...sure.” We need to be in deep communication with the Father, abiding in Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit as we learn what this unique “vocation” for our lives looks like. Also, work through this process and exploration with people who KNOW you and that you can TRUST. Your inner-circle friends! If you don’t have those right now, why not request a FREE conversation with me to look at what this process might be for you?
Whatever season of life you find yourself in, God has a place for your specific role in His kingdom! What a glorious and hopeful aspect of being a child of God!