Is this My Call?

As children of God each one of us have a distinct work in God's kingdom. Some of us have failed to identify them and some of us have not taken them seriously. However, a majority of God's children have identified their call and are actively involved in their work for God.

How do I know what is my call? Will God speak to me audibly? Does He speak to me through His word? Or would somebody prophecy about my call? Let us not speculate by thinking of high spiritual ways...like the way God called Moses or Jeremiah...The answer is simple. Each one of us will know when God calls us for the work that He wants us to do...

There are two ways to know God's calling. One He will give us the skill or talent to execute the work He wants us to do. Secondly, He places a special burden or an impression in our hearts to do that work. Not all of us have the same kind of calling.

For the word of God says,
Romans 12:6-8 (NIV)

6 We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; 7 if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; 8 if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.

I have heard simple yet powerful testimonies of men and women of God, who identified God's call for them through mere life circumstances. Once there was a man who saw a poor orphaned child in the streets begging for food drenched in the rain. The child was frame was fragile and it was clear that she had not eaten for days. The man bought some food for the kid who took it with a cheerful face. Yet when the man returned home at night, he couldn't sleep thinking about the kid. He was troubled and he asked God, "Why Lord why? Why do you allow such things to happen?"...He heard a gentle whisper in his conscience. "That is why I created you". The man immediately recognized his call from God and started an orphanage which he ran his entire lifetime.

We can know God's call in simple ways. One through the burden he places in our hearts and secondly through the natural talents he has given us. What more do we need to identify His call for us?...

Social Comparison Theory -3

One of the reasons why we may be disliked by people even though we don't have any personal strife against them is grounded in the social comparison theory. It is not wrong to have a 'good' feeling about ourselves. However, if we are not aware of social comparisons we make subconsciously with others, we may unknowingly dislike people who may have better attributes than us. For instance, some people cannot stand others who are better off than themselves physically, financially, spiritually, vocationally, intellectually or personality-wise.

Individuals who dislike others that are better than themselves have a poor image of the self. In psychological terms 'we see others the way we see ourselves'. If we have a poor self-image of ourselves, then we tend to dislike others who are different or better off from us. If we have good self-image we tend to look at others by appreciating their unique traits, character or skills.

The Word of God exhorts us to consider others better than ourselves
Philippians 2:3 Living Bible (TLB)
Don’t be selfish; don’t live to make a good impression on others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourself.

The above scripture should be interpreted with caution. The scripture is not stating that we should have a low self-esteem while perceiving others better than us. However, Apostle Paul is stating that we appreciate each individual's unique attribute, skill, talent or character while not suffering from low confidence or self-esteem. If we can learn to adopt this attitude then there wouldn't be much reason to dislike someone unreasonably.

Social Comparison Theory-2

According to the social comparison theory we subconsciously have the tendency to compare ourselves with the social group with whom we belong to or recognize; and that social comparison is healthy as long as it causes us to grow, strive, and develop in our lives and well-being.

As children of God, we also develop the tendency to compare ourselves with the characters in the Bible and sometimes incidents that relate to the Lord Himself. We would often hear people say,  "Even Jesus got angry" really not understanding the context of their anger or in turn its expression. If everyone of us can take examples of Jesus's anger and compare ourselves with Jesus I presume it would be ridiculous. The anger of Jesus was not personal but public; it was righteous anger and not based on hurtful ego. We can be in grave danger of social comparison if we are not making them in the right context.

Have you ever heard people say, "I showed the other side face to the one who slapped me just like the way Jesus said" (not literally)... meaning to say I allowed others to hurl insults and/or humiliation at me when they offended me? Rarely...When we cannot dare to make such comparisons with Jesus how can we make any comparisons at all with the great King?

Is there no instance in the Bible which we can use to compare ourselves with the Lord. I doubt so. However, there is one statement of Lord Jesus which we can take it personally. We all know that Jesus was not loved, accepted and acknowledged by all as God. The Pharisees and the Sadducees hated him. If He being good refrained to be called as good, how can we expect others to perceive us as good?

(Mark 10:18, Luke 18:19).
And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone.

We mortals are no good to compare ourselves with the Great and Good Lord- A thought to ponder...