Did you know God created you with a purpose? And did you know you have a part to play in His kingdom here on earth? At Gateway, we want you to experience all God has for you and live out your God-given purpose. This is the reason our mission is to help each person at Gateway be whom God created them to be—believing in Jesus, belonging to family, becoming a follower, and building God’s kingdom.
Believing in Jesus means placing your hope and trust in Him by surrendering to His lordship in every area of your life. When we first believe in Jesus, we receive eternal life, but it isn’t just a one-time thing. 1 John 5:14 says, “These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God.” God created us to believe Him first and God created us to believe Him last. Believing Him first is how we receive eternal life. Believing Him last is how we receive abundant life. As we continue believing in every area of our lives, we receive eternal and abundant life.
Belonging to family means developing meaningful friendships with others who love Jesus and walking through life together by loving, helping, and protecting each other. We were all born rejected. In fact, Romans 3:23 says, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” But here’s the good news, once we receive salvation, we’re born again and accepted into His family! Because of Jesus’ sacrifice, we now belong to God, who calls us to belong to each other. When two people are married, they must continue working on their marriage. Likewise, when we’re part of a church family, we have to actively participate by attending services, joining small groups, taking part in classes, and being in relationship with others.
Becoming a follower means shifting the focus of your life from being self-centered to Christ-centered by doing what He would do and loving as He would love. Is there anyone who has finally become like Jesus? No! But as we grow in our faith, we are becoming more and more like Him every day. The best example He gives us is recorded in John 13 when Jesus washes the disciples’ feet and later when He dies on the cross. Becoming a follower doesn’t mean improving our status in life. It means denying ourselves and picking up our cross to become more like Him. This doesn’t just happen once—we have to do it daily.
Building God’s kingdom means submitting to God to be His hands and feet to those around us by giving of ourselves and serving others. Now when I say giving, you might think I’m talking about finances. That’s part of it, but when I talk about giving, I’m referring to so much more. I’m talking about giving in our relationships, giving in our faith, giving in our worship. Giving comes from an attitude of the heart, and it’s the best way we can build God’s kingdom. God is a builder, and because we’re made in His image, we’re called to be builders too.
As we incorporate this mission into our lives, we begin a process of discovering our purpose here on earth. And it’s important to remember these aren’t things we do once, they’re things we must continue to do each day.
That’s why this devotional, Created to Be, is so important to understanding your role at Gateway and in God’s kingdom. Each day emphasizes how we are created to be, not do. God created human beings, not human doings. If we will simply be what He created us to be, then we will naturally do what He wants us to do. It’s then that we find our purpose.
As you read through this devotional over the next 28 days, I hope you’ll be encouraged and inspired on your journey of discovering whom God created you to be.