Krisan and David John Marotta gave this seminar to University of Virginia college students at the Center for Christian Study in Charlottesville, Virginia on November 5, 2011. It was originally titled “Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Godliness: A Biblical View of Calling.”
Download the Handout
7 Steps to Discover Your God-Given Calling
God creates every individual in His image with a specific purpose. This idea is rooted in Genesis 1:26-28, where God grants humanity dominion over creation, and Genesis 2:15-17, where He assigns Adam work before the Fall. Calling stems from God’s sovereignty and applies to all aspects of life.
- God designs humans as moral agents with dominion over all creation, not just select parts.
- Work and keeping God’s commandments define humanity’s purpose from the beginning.
- Both men and women receive unique callings, with couples multiplying their impact through mutual support.
- Jesus claims every inch of creation, making every vocation sacred.
Seven Stages of Calling
Calling can be understood as a seven-step journey.
- Dream: God plants a unique passion in each person, discoverable through exploration and self-reflection, as seen in Psalm 139.
- Twist of Greatness: Worldly measures like fame or wealth often distort this dream, using Miriam’s jealousy in Numbers 12 as an example.
- Discouragement: Loved ones frequently discourage bold dreams, (e.g. Joseph’s brothers selling him into slavery).
- Temptation to Shortcut: We are tempted to quick fixes; Jesus’ temptations in Matthew 4 as a model of resisting.
- Moment of Darkness: We are tempted to despair; Elijah’s despair in 1 Kings 19, showing how success can precede failure, requiring grit and faith.
- God’s Better Plan: Jesus’ obedience that God transforms dark moments into greater outcomes.
- Fruit: God determines the results, urging faithfulness over obsession with outcomes.
God measures greatness by faithfulness, not worldly glory.
Key Takeaways
- Explore your passions actively—try new things to uncover what makes your heart sing.
- Reject worldly definitions of success; focus on faithfulness to what God calls you to do.
- Expect discouragement and dark moments, but persevere with grit and trust in God’s plan.
- Seek mentors and real-world experience over excessive preparation or credentials.
- Rest in God’s sovereignty—He crafts your calling and brings the fruit in His time.
I offer my bible studies, podcasts and resources free of charge under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 Unported License. I do not seek or accept advertising, affiliations or donations. But it does encourage me to hear from you about how you used these studies and/or what you learned.
Photo by Andre Hunter on Unsplash
Podcast Season 3, Episode 15
Page Views: 947