Your Mission, should you choose to accept it...

This blog should be called Res Rev's Ramblings this week as I've been churning out a lot of my thinking about identity. I blame Matt Damon - or as one witty newspaper referred to him - "Bourne Again!"

Jason Bourne was a man with a mission (if only he could remember it). And I'm encouraging everyone I know to consider what their own personal mission statement might be. Lots of businesses are honing their thinking in this way and at a time of massive change in your life it's a great idea to do the same - especially if you could reach a joint decision as a couple on the wording.

Having a personal mission statement gives you a sense of purpose and direction. Obviously you need to be a bit flexible but virtually everything can be held up to it and measured against it which helps enormously when making difficult decisions.

If you need a bit of help with the wording of yours then why not look at the prayers that were part of your wedding service? If you didn't get married in church here's a summary of what we pray:

That your marriage will be life-giving and life-long, enriched by God's presence and strengthened by his grace.
That you will bring comfort and confidence to each other in faithfulness and trust.
That the hospitality of your home will bring refreshment and joy.
That your love will overflow to neighbours in need and embrace those in distress.
That you will discern in Gods word order and purpose for your lives and that the Holy Spirit will lead you in truth and defend you in adversity.
That you will nurture your family with devotion and see your children grow in body, mind and spirit.
That you will come to the end of your lives wth hearts content and in joyful anticipation of heaven.

Powerful stuff isn't it?
Jesus summarised it by saying that he'd come so that we might have 'Life in all it's fullness.' That was his personal mission statement and everything he did and every decision he made was based on it.You can find more clues about personal mission statements in the book 'The Path' by Laurie-Beth Jones.

Getting to know ourselves is a life-long journey of discovery. Learning to love and accept ourselves is a process but it's an important one that enables us to understand, accept and love others, particularly our partner.

The good news is that the supreme God knows your identity intimately, loves you unconditionally and will happily help you to chart your path to Life in all its fullness if you let him. It's called being Born Again. Now there's an ultimatum...