Welcome Grace
  • Home
  • About
  • Speaking
  • Book
  • Blog
  • Contact
Select Page

The Purpose of Significance

by Jessica Van Roekel | Dec 6, 2016 | Christian Living | 2 comments

significance-2

I’m really good at being busy for the Lord.

And I know I’m not alone.

Many years ago, I was Women’s Ministry President, Children’s Ministry Director, and a Youth Sponsor—all at the same time. It was exhausting and in the midst of the busyness I realized I had forgotten how to sit at Jesus’ feet and just be.

So I finished out my term as Women’s Ministries president and declined reelection. I found a replacement for the Children’s Ministry and informed the youth pastor I could no longer be a sponsor.

I thought this “learning to be” would be easy, but it was not. I had looked to my roles and the spotlight as indicators of my significance, and with nothing to do, my heart panicked.

Identity is so much more than my roles, reputations, accomplishments, past, present, or future. Through faith I’m believing that I’m accepted and secure in Christ. Although there’s still an internal wrestling, especially on days when I’d rather give up and move to the wilds of Alaska, except for the snow thing and the dark days.

But this significance thing? I still don’t have it figured out. Significance and pride are so interwoven in my heart that it takes the grace of God to unwind. I’m writing and living from that tangled place.

The desire for significance is not an ungodly desire, but I make it ungodly when I chase after success in my roles, approval ratings, and reputation. Only God can fulfill my desire for significance and it’s only when I began exploring God’s definition of significance that I discovered three areas that, when combined together, make significance simple to understand.

Part 1 of significance is tied to our purpose and it’s only when we embrace our purpose— as defined by God— that we can grasp part 2 of our significance, which is our position:

Ephesians 2:6, “And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus.” NIV

1 Corinthians 3:16, “Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s spirit lives in you?” NIV

2 Corinthians 5:17-21, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” NIV

I am God’s temple, but it’s not about me.

After I die to my own sins, God raises me up and seats me with Christ, not so I can lord it over people, but to serve.

God makes me a new creation and pours his grace over my life, not so I can be blessed, but so that I can effectively be his minister of reconciliation to a lost and dying world.

My purpose is tied to my position. I am not in this world for my own pleasure and happiness, although I have a great deal of things that make me happy and bring me pleasure, like sharing song and words and beauty, but ultimately I have been given a position that needs good fruit.

Our position as God’s ministers is to make him known and to reconcile the world to him. But we can’t do this if we don’t know him or understand our identity in him.

This is where I can scare myself into inaction because the gravity and responsibility of this position is weighty. It also explains why I sometimes flat out refuse to take the next steps in growth in my Christian walk.

All those years ago, God was calling me to let go of my positions so that I could sit at his feet and begin to understand the significance that he calls me to, but I was scared to obey. I liked being in charge and having “important” things to do. I wrestled with giving up my positions in the church because I was afraid of losing significance. What I gained out of the perceived loss of significance was the beginning of the journey to truly embracing my identity in Christ.

As I took the time to be in his presence rather than be busy in his church, my definition of significance was replaced with his. Bearing fruit and serving others through the ministry of reconciliation is a gift.

It’s a weighty gift because I know how hard it is to stay grafted to the vine and engaged with culture. I know that if I reject the position God has called me to be as his temple and as his minister, that the purpose of bearing good fruit is pointless.

There will be times when we’re tempted to find our significance in other things, we’ll misrepresent God to the world, and we’ll do and say things that are opposed to his holy righteousness. Our purpose and position can feel impossible to accomplish. But it is possible and we find the key to success in the final area of significance.

When we combine the three aspects of significance we will find that fulfilling our purpose and position is accomplishable.  Till next time.

I'm glad you're here.

Archives

Categories

Most Recent

  • Four Ways Rejection Can Benefit Us Part 2
  • A Blessing of God’s Love
  • Four Ways Rejection Can Be Good Part 1
  • How to Handle Rejection God’s Way
  • A Blessing for 2023

Most Popular

  • Four Ways Rejection Can Benefit Us Part 2
  • A Blessing of God’s Love
  • Four Ways Rejection Can Be Good Part 1
  • How to Handle Rejection God’s Way
  • A Blessing for 2023

Managed Hosting By

Hi, I’m Jessica

Let’s Connect

  • Follow
  • Follow
  • Follow
  • Follow

Get the book

Reframing Rejection

Get the free resource

Discover Freedom & Hope

Recently posted

Four Ways Rejection Can Benefit Us Part 2

Happening on Instagram

Did you know God thinks you are wonderful? He ...

View

Jan 31

Open
Did you know God thinks you are wonderful? He does! He chooses you over and over again. Even in the middle of your messes, hurts, joys, disappointments, and rejections..

Sometimes we put up obstacles. We think we need to do more and be more and we can’t so we give up. We carry shame like an overstuffed suitcase or we wear victimhood like a moth-eaten wool coat. 

What if we laid it all down? What if we came in all our yuck and received him and his work in our lives? What if we reframed rejection through God’s lens? 

https://a.co/d/1yINcrV

welcomegrace #holybible #scripture
#livebygrace #biblicalliving #christianity #goodnews #christiansofinstagram #encouragement #faithhopelove #christianliving
#jesuspaiditall #womensministry #worship #believe #holyspirit #pray #bibleverse #inspiration #christianliving #prayer #womenoffaith #bibletime #jesuschrist #liveyourfaith #bibleinspiration #amazinggrace #trustgod #wordbeforeworld #devotional

I don’t know of anyone who welcomes rejection ...

View

Jan 26

Open
I don’t know of anyone who welcomes rejection with open arms. I certainly don’t. But I have learned every rejection is an opportunity for spiritual growth if we choose to lean into it. 

God uses our hurts to turn our hearts toward him. When we turn toward him we learn the power of trust, the expression of hope, and the undercurrent of deep abiding joy in the middle of heartbreak. 

How can you turn to God today?

#welcomegrace #holybible #scripture
#livebygrace #biblicalliving #christianity #goodnews #christiansofinstagram #encouragement #faithhopelove #christianliving
#jesuspaiditall #womensministry #worship #believe #holyspirit #pray #bibleverse #inspiration #christianliving #prayer #womenoffaith #bibletime #jesuschrist #liveyourfaith #bibleinspiration #amazinggrace #trustgod #wordbeforeworld #devotional

Regrets can overwhelm us. We spend too much time ...

View

Jan 24

Open
Regrets can overwhelm us. We spend too much time thinking we should have done this or should have done that. We “should” ourselves to death. Or we ignore them and pretend them away. Rejection can lead us into the land of regrets where we shut our hearts to people and to God. But what if we uncurled our memories and looked back at them through the lens of God’s word and then made our way forward? 

Reframing Rejection is released on paperback today! It guides you through the past, into the present, and lays out hope for the future. It’s a book designed to equip and enable you to find freedom from the tyranny of cancel culture.

Have you ever known something, but didn’t really...

View

Jan 23

Open
Have you ever known something, but didn’t really know it? It’s like knowing God is good but struggling to really believe it because there’s evidence of bad in your life. Our heart demands proof. 

It’s in these moments where we find ourselves at a crossroad. Will we let our doubts win or wrestle with both doubt and belief? 

God is big enough to handle the questions we toss his way and he’s big enough to fill both our head and heart, reconciling both in a way that brings him glory. And, boy, am I glad for that. Bring him your hard questions and ask him to open your eyes and ears of your heart. Hugs! 

#welcomegrace #holybible #scripture
#livebygrace #biblicalliving #christianity #goodnews #christiansofinstagram #encouragement #faithhopelove #christianliving
#jesuspaiditall #womensministry #worship #believe #holyspirit #pray #bibleverse #inspiration #christianliving #prayer #womenoffaith #bibletime #jesuschrist #liveyourfaith #bibleinspiration #amazinggrace #trustgod #wordbeforeworld #devotional

Living by faith is an adventure that requires ...

View

Jan 19

Open
Living by faith is an adventure that requires courage, endurance, and tenacity. It’s standing with face to the wind and feet anchored in God. 

He encourages us, he builds us up, and plants within us a seed of faith that grows mighty as we keep saying YES to him. What have you said yes to? Career? Ministry? Home? 

Walk by faith in the calling God gave to you, trusting that he will reveal the next step. Say yes to adventuring with him. 

#welcomegrace #holybible #scripture
#livebygrace #biblicalliving #christianity #goodnews #christiansofinstagram #encouragement #faithhopelove #christianliving
#jesuspaiditall #womensministry #worship #believe #holyspirit #pray #bibleverse #inspiration #christianliving #prayer #womenoffaith #bibletime #jesuschrist #liveyourfaith #bibleinspiration #amazinggrace #trustgod #wordbeforeworld #devotional

Vulnerability with God paves the way to ...

View

Jan 16

Open
Vulnerability with God paves the way to transformation. 

I change the most when I am honest with God and tell him everything. It’s when I hold back areas of my life that I thwart my growth. These hidden areas mildew which gets out of hand. Rather than risking the yuck from spreading to healthy areas of my life, I’ve learned to spill it all to God. My hurt, anger, unforgiveness, ambitions, hopes, dreams, disappointments, and longings become places of transformation. 

If vulnerability scares you, that’s okay. Take a baby step and talk to God about that fear. Let him transform you as you take vulnerable steps toward him. He welcomes you with open arms.
Reframing Rejection is still available for .99 on Amazon Kindle and you can now preorder the paperback.

https://a.co/d/1yINcrV

#welcomegrace #holybible #scripture
#livebygrace #biblicalliving #christianity #goodnews #christiansofinstagram #encouragement #faithhopelove #christianliving
#jesuspaiditall #womensministry #worship #believe #holyspirit #pray #bibleverse #inspiration #christianliving #prayer #womenoffaith #bibletime #jesuschrist #liveyourfaith #bibleinspiration #amazinggrace #trustgod #wordbeforeworld #devotional
Load More
  • Home
  • About
  • Speaking
  • Book
  • Blog
  • Contact

© JESSICA VAN ROEKEL. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. | PRIVACY POLICY | DESIGN & HOSTING BY FISTBUMP MEDIA, LLC.

Pin It on Pinterest