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Pastor, you've probably helped a lot of people discover how God shaped them to serve. But have you done that work for yourself?You can be sure of your calling and still be worn out by your days. Often that happens because you're trying to fit a job description instead of the design God gave you.Paul didn't have that problem. He wrote, "But by the grace of God I am what I am" (1 Corinthians 15:10 NKJV). When God saved Paul, he didn't swap out his zeal, his energy, or his sharp mind. He didn't slow Paul down. He changed his direction.God does the same with you. Your spiritual gifts, heart, abilities, personality, and experiences make up your SHAPE. It's the way God wired you, and he doesn't waste any of it. When you build your ministry around that design, four things happen.1. You're less stressedA lot of ministry stress comes from trying to be something God never made you to be. When you understand your SHAPE, you stop trying to do what you're not gifted to do.Build on your strengths. Recognize your limitations. Maximize what you're good at, and don't worry about the rest.Some stress comes from wondering what's wrong with you. Maybe you've reacted to something the opposite way from everyone else in the room and thought, What's wrong with me? Nothing. God made you that way on purpose. The Living Bible paraphrase says, "Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! It is amazing to think about. Your workmanship is marvelous" (Psalm 139:14).You also don't have to carry the pressure of measuring up to someone else. It was never my goal to be the best pastor in the world. My goal was to be the best pastor I could be with the talent, background, opportunities, and gifts God gave me. God won't compare you with anybody else. He'll compare you with your potential.So quit apologizing for what you're not. Build on what you are.2. You're more successful, by God's definitionFirst you have to know what success is. It isn't making a lot of money, and it isn't having the most impressive ministry in town.Success is knowing God's will and being right in the center of it. It's figuring out who God made you to be and then being it. When you find that niche, you know it. You say, "That's me!"Your SHAPE even affects how you learn. Some people learn best by reading and studying. Others learn by listening, by discussing, by watching something modeled, or by doing it. That has nothing to do with intelligence and everything to do with SHAPE, which is worth remembering about yourself and about the people you teach every week.3. You're more satisfiedPlenty of pastors serve faithfully for years and feel little joy in the work. Satisfaction comes when you're doing what God shaped you to do.You never get tired of that kind of work. You don't get bored with it. No matter how many satisfying moments you have, you're ready for another one.You'll naturally drift toward that kind of work. In my years leading staff and volunteers at Saddleback, it never stopped amazing me that, whatever the job description said, people eventually reshaped their jobs around what they really enjoyed doing. The same is true for you. If your role doesn't make room for how God wired you, you'll go looking for that satisfaction somewhere else.When you enjoy being who God made you to be, you feel his love a whole lot more. You're in step with his plan.Where does your SHAPE keep showing up, even when it isn't on your calendar?4. You're more secure in who you areIf you're honest, there are probably days you don't like yourself very much. That's especially true when your sense of worth rises and falls with how ministry is going.Genuine security isn't pop psychology. It doesn't come from pulling yourself up by your bootstraps or thinking positively. It rests on two biblical truths: You matter to God, and God shaped you for a purpose. Jesus proved the first one on the cross. He didn't die for junk. He died for you.Those truths can steady anyone, even someone who's sure he's worthless. I once received a letter from an attorney who resigned his law practice to direct a rescue mission. He used SHAPE with discouraged men and women on skid row and told them that God can bring good out of even the most desperate situations. One of those men was Richard. Abandoned by his mother as a toddler, he had gone through two failed marriages and had little relationship with his children. For years he was convinced he was utterly unlovable. When the attorney reminded him that God had shaped him uniquely and never wastes a hurt, Richard's despair began to lift. He wept, but there was joy in it.Your worth doesn't rise and fall with how your ministry is going. God settled it at the cross, and he shaped you on purpose.Accept it, enjoy it, and use itMy prayer is that you'll be able to say with Paul that, by God's grace, you are what you are. Don't just accept how God made you. Enjoy it, and thank him for it.Then look for the places where you think, That's me. That's what I was made to do. Build your ministry there, and contribute your uniqueness to the world for the glory of God.

Pastor, sooner or later the call comes. Someone in your church has just lost a husband, a friend, a job. On the drive over, you think what almost everyone thinks: I don't know what to say.Most people in your church feel that way, so they do nothing. They wait for the hurting person to reach out, and that never happens. Pastors face the opposite temptation. We think we're supposed to have the words, so we fill the silence with explanations and advice.Everyone you lead will face loss, and so will you. The Bible says, “He comforts us every time we have trouble, so when others have trouble, we can comfort them with the same comfort God gives us” (2 Corinthians 1:4 NCV). Helping hurting people is part of the assignment. You're going to need this skill for the rest of your ministry. Here's how to do it when you don't have the words.Don't be afraid of tearsBefore we get to what to do, you need to see tears the way God does. You can feel sorrow because you're made in the image of a God who feels it. The Bible says the Father was grieved over human sin (Genesis 6:6). The Spirit groans with us when we pray (Romans 8:26). And when Jesus stood with the mourners after Lazarus died, the Bible says, “Jesus wept” (John 11:35 NIV).Jesus wasn't ashamed to cry in public, and the people watching understood what his tears meant: He loved his friend. Tears are a sign of love, not weakness.That matters for pastors, because we often think we have to be the strong one in the room. “I need to hold it together for them.” That's a mistake. Sympathy says, “I'm sorry you hurt.” Empathy shows, “I'm hurting with you.” A grieving person needs to see that you feel it too.And please don't tell someone to stop crying. People usually say that because tears make them uncomfortable. But feelings are meant to be felt. The Bible says, “Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep” (Romans 12:15 ESV).God takes tears so seriously that he keeps them: “You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle. You have recorded each one in your book” (Psalm 56:8 NLT). If God counts every tear, you don't need to rush anyone past theirs.Learn from what Job's friends got rightJob lost his children, his wealth, and his health almost overnight. We usually remember his friends for what they got wrong, and once they started giving opinions, they got plenty wrong. But before they said a word, they did three things exactly right. Those three things, plus one more, give you a simple way to help anyone in deep pain.1. Don't wait. Take the initiative.The most common mistake is waiting for the hurting person to call you. They won't.Job's friends went to him. “When Job's three friends . . . heard about all the troubles that had come upon him, they set out from their homes and met together by agreement to go and sympathize with him and comfort him” (Job 2:11 NIV). They didn't wait for an invitation, and they went together.Who in your church is hurting right now that you haven't contacted because you don't know what to say? Write down that name, and reach out this week.2. Don't hold back. Let them see your tears.“When they saw him from a distance, they could hardly recognize him; they began to weep aloud, and they tore their robes and sprinkled dust on their heads” (Job 2:12 NIV).Tearing robes and throwing dust were how people in that culture showed grief. You don't need to do either. But weeping is understood everywhere. People may misunderstand your words, but they won't misunderstand your tears.Job's friends didn't stand at a distance and say they were sorry. They entered his pain. That kind of empathy bonds people together.3. Don't speak. Show up and shut up.“Then they sat on the ground with him for seven days and nights. No one said a word to Job, for they saw that his suffering was too great for words” (Job 2:13 NLT).There's nothing you can say that will take away someone's deep pain. They don't want to be cheered up, and they don't need an explanation. Remember this: The greater the pain, the fewer words you should use. That's the ministry of presence.4. Don't forget. All tears are temporary.No matter how deep the grief is today, it won't last forever. Three times the Bible promises that God will wipe away our tears (Isaiah 25:8; Revelation 7:17; Revelation 21:4). The last promise comes near the end of the Bible: “He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever” (Revelation 21:4 NLT).Hold on to that when you're sitting with someone in pain. And hold on to it when you're the one grieving.Who needs you to show up this week?Hurting people are all around you, in your church and outside it. If you care, you'll be aware. You don't need perfect words. You need to go, let them see that you are hurting with them, and say less than you think you should.So make that visit this week. Let your presence say what your words can't.

“The most important thing is that I complete my mission, the work that the Lord Jesus gave me—to tell people the Good News about God’s grace.” Acts 20:24 (NCV)Pastor, God gave you a mission. With meetings to lead, decisions to make, and another sermon to prepare, it’s easy for that mission to get crowded out of your week.Nothing matters more than this mission.The most important work in your ministry isn’t to keep every program running, finish every task, or satisfy every expectation. Those responsibilities matter, but they must serve the mission Jesus gave you: telling people the Good News of God’s grace.Paul said, “The most important thing is that I complete my mission, the work that the Lord Jesus gave me—to tell people the Good News about God’s grace” (Acts 20:24 NCV).Jesus died on the cross to bring grace to you and to give you a mission. Part of your mission is to tell other people about the Good News of God’s grace. You came to faith in Christ because someone told you about Jesus. Now who are you going to tell?Jesus died for every single person in your community and around the world. Many people go through life without knowing what he did for them. Some live near your church. Some are people you see every week. They need to hear about his grace.Because God cares about every single person on the planet, we must too. Because God showed grace to us when he saved us, we must tell other people about the amazing grace of God. They can have a relationship with God and an eternal home in heaven.This week, ask God to help you share that Good News with one person.It’s our mission!

Pastor, people need to hear the truth. They also need to see the life God is calling them to live. I want my preaching to build people and help them believe they can take the next step.The Bible says, “Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ” (Ephesians 4:15 NIV).Speaking the truth in love means telling people what they need to hear for their growth and caring about them as we say it. Kindness gives people what they need, not what they deserve. In preaching, that means challenging people and correcting them with their growth in mind.Give people a personal challengePaul writes, “I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received” (Ephesians 4:1 NIV). He is challenging believers to make their lives count. We all need a cause or purpose that calls forth the best in us. Preach toward a cause bigger than self-interest. Call people to use their strengths to serve others and make their lives count. Challenge the best in them, then give them a clear next step.Give people confidenceWhen somebody believes in you, it brings out the best in you. Jesus gave Simon a new name and told him what he could become. Simon was impulsive, but Jesus saw his potential.People need encouragement. Our words can reinforce labels they already carry, or point them toward what God can develop in them. Help them see their potential and take a next faithful step.Give people honest counselThere is no progress without learning, and no learning without feedback. Proverbs says, “People learn from one another, just as iron sharpens iron” (Proverbs 27:17 GNT). People need someone who cares enough to tell them the truth, even when it hurts. When correction is needed, name it plainly.Aim to help a person change without condemning them. Affirm the person and correct the behavior. Speak the truth in love. That kind of correction can build people up.As you prepare this week, think of one person who needs a challenge, encouragement, or honest correction. Ask how your words can help that person grow. Build people up with kindness. Speak the truth in love.