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Script: Yvette l Narrator: Josh l Mix: Yujie
Hello friends! In the previous three sections, we considered the person, the perspective and the power source of the leader. We also examined how our character, worldview and faith convictions that brace up our public persona. Today, let us look at the fourth key of an outstanding leadership - the Purpose of the Leader. And the first part of this key is Our Personal Destiny.
Rick Warren, the pastor who wrote The Purpose Driven Life said, “Living on purpose is the only way to really live. Everything else is just existing.” In his book, he pointed out that there are three questions most people ask: “Who am I?”, “Do I matter?” and “What is my place in life?”
To identify our purpose, first, we must understand that each of us has a calling - to find purpose, meaning and fulfilment in life. To that end, each of us has a specific role that God equips us for and which we need to find with His help.
When we find our purpose, through discovering how God has created and connected us uniquely, this is where we have the energy, excitement and drive to accomplish His plans.
When Jesus started his public ministry, he taught the crowds, healed the sick and fellowshipped with His disciples. He was very clear about his mission on earth.
And, Jesus knew His role and destiny as the Lamb of God: to take away the sins of the world (John 1: 29). Everything He taught, said and did was towards His purpose to die on the cross for the sins of the world.
The Lord Jesus was on a mission. Luke 4: 18-19 records:
The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me,
Because He has anointed Me
To preach the gospel to the poor;
He has sent Me to heal the broken-hearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives
And recovery of sight to the blind,
To set at liberty those who are oppressed;
To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.
After this proclamation, he set about fulfilling his purpose immediately, by casting out an unclean spirit and healing Peter’s mother-in-law and many other brought to him (Luke 4: 31-41).
OUR PERSONAL DESTINY
The purpose of a leader is linked to his personal destiny.
What is “destiny”? Our destiny defines what we become and do as we live out our lives in accordance to God’s will. The word “destination” comes from this word and it means “the end goal of a journey”.
Our personal destiny is a matter of great importance in our leadership and guidance of others. Before we can help others to achieve their potential, we must first do the same for ourselves. Like the Lord, we must orientate our lives towards our personal destiny.
To orientate is to set our positions in the specific direction to our destination. We are involved in many activities: we have families to lead and provide for, careers to advance and goals to achieve. In the midst of our busyness, it becomes easy to lose sight. Therefore, it is important for us to take a step back from time to time to re-examine our routines and consider our activities that fit the purpose of our lives.
Friends, the end goal of our lifelong journey is to reach the destiny that God has planned for us. He has planned for us to (1) be a certain type of person, and (2) fulfil a specific purpose. To evaluate our progress, we can ask ourselves:
The question addresses the purposes for which God is moulding us to become the person He wants us to be, whether through the circumstances and people in our lives or even through the way our personality is connected. Paul describes God’s end goal for us in Romans 8: 29, “For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren”. Although our personalities are different, we are indeed unique creations in the image of Jesus Christ.
As we are conformed to His image, it must manifest in our actions and our roles in life. For instance, I am a husband. To be more Christ-like, I must ask “Am I becoming a more godly husband?” I am also a father and a son; likewise, “Am I becoming a more godly father and honouring my parents in these roles?” What about my role as friend, brother and more? These are questions we must ask as we orientate and move towards the path of our destiny, to make a difference wherever we are.
This question addresses the area of achieving God’s purposes in our lives. We work hand-in-hand with God in bringing His will to pass. God has pre-ordained us to do good works, that is, influencing and impacting the lives of others. Broadly speaking, these good works value-add and multiply positively into the lives of others.
In our family, for example, are we building faith at home? Are we nurturing godly character in our children and grandchildren? Are we helping them to know God through devotions and family prayer?
This also extends to our roles in the public. Are we providing effective, ethical and loving supervision and direction to the people God placed under our care and treating them the way God desires of us? In secular world, this could mean being compassionate and understanding to employees who are unwell or facing personal issues.
In short, our destiny is a combination of our being and our doing. We should work on these two at the same time. As we mature in character and actions, we will grow spiritually.
PURPOSE AND VISION
Our personal destiny – being and doing – should be expressed in the form of a purpose-vision statement. This suggests to us “why” and “what” are behind our life and circumstances.
Myles Munroe, who published many books on leadership and transformation, said “Vision is the ability to see the end from the beginning… it presents a picture of the unseen and convinces you that it will come to pass. Vision never stands alone. It always originates from a known purpose. Vision is a glimpse of purpose.”
A biblical example is Queen Esther. Though she knew of Haman’s plan to kill all Jews in Persia, Esther was hesitant to come before the king because without being called to see the king, anyone who did so could be executed.
To stand up for her people by coming before the king and warning the king of Haman’s evil would have put her life at risk. Her cousin Mordecai, who brought her up, reminded her of why she had become queen in the first place. “For if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” (Esther 4: 14)
For Esther, that settled the question of what she had to do to save her people, the Jews. Similarly, we are called to His service for “such a time as this” – to accomplish His purpose where He has placed us.
Now, envision a triangle divided into seven horizontal tiers. The peak is our purpose-vision. That defines everything. The second tier of the triangle is our mission which is the various tasks to fulfil the purpose-vision. To do so, we must develop core biblical values and principles. That is the third tier. Next, we formulate strategies which give us a broad plan to fulfil our purpose-vision. These include themes and key areas to focus on. Then, we identify our key responsibilities, the fifth tier. And the sixth tier, the second last from the bottom of the triangle, we set SMART goals (specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and time-related) to achieve all the above. This will be reflected at the bottom of the triangle, our daily, weekly and monthly plans and activities.
Review what we have accomplished at the end of each month, quarter or year. This triangle will help us to stay on track and prevent us from deviating from our purpose and vision.
PERSONAL VISION STATEMENT
As leaders, crafting a personal vision statement helps to ensure that our vision is aligned with God’s purpose for our life. It provides a means of evaluating our goals and plans in line with our vision. There are a few points to consider when crafting our personal vision statement:
However, Rick Warren described the personal vision (or life purpose statement) as follows:
On the other hand, Myles Munroe has ten questions to help identify and refine our personal vision:
We must think big and aim high in our life purpose. Once we have given our purpose and vision a careful thought, write it out so that it becomes more real and gives us a sense of urgency. Habakkuk 2: 2 says, “Write the vision and make it plain on the tablets, that he may run who reads it.”
Our response will depend on two factors: ① our own personality and talents, and ② God’s will for us. The fulfilment of God’s purposes in our lives required a partnership of both His sovereignty and divine plan, and our efforts and obedience in following His leading. And our personalities and God’s will are like the two halves of a magnet. Our personality, gifts, talents, vision and mission for us work together with how we are connected and what He prepared to us. Along the way, He provides signs of confirmation through feedback from family, friends, superiors, peers and subordinates.
Our purpose-vision should lead us into partnership with other people, to build a legacy for the generations to come.
Friends, the world changed much over the past decades but God’s Word is always relevant. Let us live purposefully with His Word as our basis. Have a great week in Jesus!
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Excerpted from outstanding Leader by Pastor Daniel Foo; first published by Armour Publishing Singapore and the book can be purchased from