Image courtesy of Ammon Beckstrom on flickr.com
A personal mission statement. Do you have one for you, and/or for your family? I never did. It came up at church a couple of weeks ago. We were studying Acts Chapter 20, where Paul was on the move in an intentional way, he was moving and grooving on his way back to Jerusalem in time for Pentecost.
When I think of Paul, I envision a real hero. He was a true servant, focused on his mission to spread the Gospel. Here today, on to the next stop tomorrow. Sometimes he would stay for months in one place, other times he was gone in a flash. He did this knowing that he would face prison and hardships in every city. How did he know all of that? The Holy Spirit told him. He went anyway.
And so we were challenged to come up with a personal mission statement. I thought about it for a week or so, and one morning after a discussion in our disciple group here is what I came up with for mine:
Bring Glory to God and Honor Him through Obedience, Passionately Serving, Sharing the Gospel, and Loving Everyone.
How do we come up with a personal mission statement?
Try answering these 4 questions:
- Who am I?
- What is important to me?
- What are my core values?
- What legacy do I want to leave behind?
Writing a mission statement for yourself and/or with your family should be exciting. If it seems stressful, relax and take your time. Remember to be honest with yourself. And, remember that this exercise can be a work in progress. Likewise, it may change through time. Think of this mission statement as your guiding light. It’s something that you have to help keep you focused and grounded. Write it down on the tablet of your heart. Carry it around on a business card. Keep it handy so it’s there whenever you need it. And keep putting oil into the lamp.
Do you have a personal mission statement?
What suggestions could you offer to someone trying to develop a personal mission statement?
I like your statement. I don’t have a mission statement but I enjoyed pondering your questions. I’ll keep mediating on them and perhaps God will reveal a mission statement to me.
Cool, until then you’re welcome to use mine if you like it TC!
Oh, Oh, Oh! I DO have a mission statement!
Actually it’s the mission statement for my writing: To educate, entertain and inspire through the written word.
My very first mission statement for writing and speaking when my focus was kids was: Make learning fun. Hopefully my new mission statement still leaves room for the “fun.”
Great post, Chris. I love this. I’m always urging (nagging) people to have a mission statement, too.
Yours is excellent Carol, very nice!!