Identity and Mission Self-Assessment
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Identity and Mission Self-Assessment
Self-reflection and assessment are essential in Christianity life. This is looking into your life as a Christian to find out what you have achieved or need to achieve as well as what you have not achieved. Usually, it involves asking yourself questions and giving answers.
As a Christian, I have power over the rest of God’s creation. I am the caretaker of God’s creation. I am obliged to taking care of other creatures without their exploitation. This means carrying on with God’s work of creation. I have dominion over Al other animals and can therefore control them. I should marry and fill the earth as commanded to me by God. I have the duty of serving other people. The Bible says that I should use whichever gift I have received to serve others.
Encouraging other people to carry on with life. The Bible commands that we should build each other. People face so many challenges that would lead to discouragements due to broken relationships, lost jobs, loss of loved ones, and financial constraints. Such things leave them on the verge of giving up in life. It is my responsibility to encourage them to rise up and move on regardless of any obstacle they encounter. I have to make them believe in themselves and overcome such a discouraging world.
I have the duty to pray for other people. The Bible in James 5:16 says that we should confess our sins to each other and pray for each other. I have to pray on behalf of the burdened. Again, there are those that do not know about God. I pray that God helps them know Him and be close to Him. The sick need prayers, too, for healing. I also pray for the souls of the dead so that God may forgive them and grant them eternal rest.
I have a duty to help others carry burdens. The Bible in Galatians 6:2 says that in carrying each other’s burdens, we fulfill the law of Christ b. Walking with the burdened lightens their load and makes life easier for them. Jesus carried my burden at the cross; therefore, I need to help people with their burdens.
Seeking the kingdom of God, among other things, gives my life meaning and purpose. I try my best to live by God’s commands to help me attain eternal life. I help the less fortunate people in society as a way of seeking God’s kingdom. Moreover, I proclaim God’s work in my life. God saved me through His son and saved me from the slavery of sin. Also, I am wonderfully made, and I have talents, all of which are God given.
I focus on bringing as many people as possible closer to God. I try all I can to convert people to know God, and for those who slipped away, I help bring back to the path of God. I preach to people so that they may get to know God. I testify to them to show them that God truly exists and has done much for me. This is to make them believe and follow the way of Christ.
I am not judgmental, and therefore, I tend to seek to know first the reason why someone acts in a way that dishonors them or others. This is because most people behave that way without realizing the doing wrong. Most people lack the knowledge of the image of God, they do not know that we bear God’s image and should therefore emulate God’s ways. Therefore, it is not enough to judge them right away. It could be a mistake they are willing to change if corrected. Secondly, I look for ways to advise that person by making them realize their mistake and consequently correcting on it. I also pray to God to forgive them and help them change. This saves a soul that could have otherwise been lost forever.
My family and friends are my spheres of influence. They are the people who are mostly around me and I think my opinion really has an impact on them. On matters pertaining to religion, I always make sure to make the best decision that is Godly and drag them into the same direction. I use all methods to help them see the advantage of following the same path as me. Speaking of the quality and quantity of my mentoring others, I set only what is achievable and realistic. I will not lead people into something they cannot live up to. In matters of religion, it is a matter of one’s choice and so one lives up to what they can reach and uphold. Therefore, systematically I help them follow the right way and eventually stick to it
My relationship with God has gone through lots of changes. That is since I was young to who I am today. When I was young, my parents introduced me to the Catholic Church doctrines and that is where I began to learn and be connected with my God. I joined the catechism teachings that led to me being baptized. I learned most of the prayers from the catechism. Being baptized also meant the beginning of receiving the Holy Communion. My relationship with God has since been quite strong. I have always been in prayers and trying the best I can to remain obedient. I always make a follow up for confession regularly. I always engage myself in activities that God has commanded us to involve in. That is, for instance helping the poor and the widows. I have visited children’s homes to help the children there and the suffering at their home places or the streets. Going to church, every Sunday has also been a Factor in the strong relationship with my God.
This means attending the Holy Mass every Sunday. Attending seminars that are church based has been my thing. All these have contributed to a strong relationship with God. However, I have to note that there is a point I distanced myself from God for close to a year. This was when I stopped going to church and praying. It was a hard time for me. This changed when I went back to my God and things have never gone bad since then. I did a confession and worked on rectifying everything. I am now in good terms with God and working to maintain it by adding to my life things that help in seeking the kingdom of God.
The community has contributed much to my growth through encouragement and correction. In my spiritual journey, going to church, every Sunday has been a challenge but with the encouragement by the community, I have been able to change to always go to pray on Sundays. They taught me the importance of attending the Holy Mass and that encourages me to always attend church on Sunday. They have also corrected me in so many ways. I have always heeded to their advice and I would say it has been of great help.
For my spiritual wellbeing, I engage myself in activities that build me spiritually. Such include; Personal reflection. Usually, I access my spiritual wellbeing occasionally. This usually is a session of asking myself questions and giving possible answers. Such questions include: what gives me hope, finding out what gives meaning and purpose to my life.
Praying and reading the Bible.
I engage myself in prayers daily. I pray for my faith, health and pray for others. In addition, I read the Bible for inspiration, to get God’s message and for my general knowledge. This helps in my spiritual wellbeing since the word of God is food for the soul. Praying is direct communication with God hence helps build spiritually.
Serving the community
I take my time and reach out to the elderly, the sick and disabled people in the community. I help them in ways that I can. It could be financially or emotionally supporting them. I also offer prayers for them. I also preach to the community as a way of serving them and most especially those that are still living in the old dark ways. I help them come to the light of Christ.
I am into these practices since I found out that they were the best ways that built a strong relationship with my God. Furthermore, they help in building my faith. For instance, the self-reflection helps me identify my weak and strong areas and therefore correct and work on my weak points. In addition, helping others with their faith is a way of serving God and building on my spiritually.
For me, I do not think there is anything beyond my control that is constraining my power of choice. In choosing to follow the way to eternal life, I did not have any constraints. I made my decision smoothly and have followed it without obstacles. I pray that nothing comes up in future to stop me from always choosing the way of blessings.
Choosing my God to be the guide in my life has been among the most crucial decisions I have made. This has also influenced the people around me such as family and friends. I would say that many people have emulated me. I have chosen not to live by the ways of the world but by the ways of God. This has made my life smooth and admirable. Many people have been inspired by this and chose the same path.
Choosing to remain Godly at quite a hard time and at a time when family and friends were slipping really took moral standing. At times, I am faced with hardships that tempt me to leave my God and seek help elsewhere. For instance, during sicknesses, people tend to seek help from witch doctors which is evil and ungodly. For me, I have to go against that no matter the circumstances, even when family and friends follow that direction I have to hold on to my God. This is because God is the most powerful being and leaving Him to seek help elsewhere means lack of trust in Him. I have had friends looking for money and powers in this world through ways that were ungodly and really tempted me. Seeing my friends prosper was a challenge to me. It really tempted my faith in God. I did not follow their ways because I prayed about it and got the grace to overcome the temptations. I chose to wait on my God for in his right timing money will be found. Also, seeking the kingdom of God should come first before the worldly things.
For my goals, I have been able to convert a commendable number of persons to join Christianity. I have met people who knew nothing about God and made them know and accept God. I also went to people who had knowledge of God but had slipped and tried bringing them back to God. I would say that this has not been easy for me. Convincing someone to leave their old ways to follow God is hard since they have lived that way for long. Some people will ask for prove before they can actually accept what you are talking about.
Obstacles are in all kinds of situations and no situation is smooth. However, I made it through those obstacles. I overcame through prayers and persistence. I prayed to God to give me the grace to go on with my conversion mission and to show the people that I am trying to convert that it is the right path. Persistence helped me through. I had to consistently visit my targeted people and remind them of their new way of life. I am targeting to convert even more people each year. To bring more people back to God regardless of the challenges.
My goals in healthcare are in line with my mission. In both areas, I am targeting to save millions of lives. In healthcare, I save people by treating them and getting them healed from illness conditions. In my mission on the other hand, I am also targeting to save lives. This is by bringing them to God for eternal life. To save them from the evil worldly things to the life in Christ. In meeting many people in healthcare, I get a chance to share with them news about God.
From this reflection, I have had a deeper understanding of my journey with God. I understand the obstacles I fought with to be where I am today. I also get to know my weak areas and so I am able to work on them. It enables me see how much I have achieved and hence enable me to plan on what to work on next.
I decided that, based on this reflection, I still have to work hard to improve my relationship with God. I am going to do more charity works and improve on my prayer life. To have a stronger faith in God, I am going to be more prayerful by engaging in retreats.
Every six months, I will be having a self-reflection moment. This is to look back and see how much I have achieved and how less I have underachieved. This self-reflection is important in giving me the way forward.