Mark Batterson - Soulprint: Discovering Your Divine Destiny

We are Gods masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so that we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.

E PHESIANS 2:10, NLT

I have the utmost respect for people willing to do the hard work of figuring out how God made them and where God wants them to go in this life. Discovering your real identity isnt easy. But fulfilling your true destiny makes the journey worth it!

To help you in your own journey of self-discovery, I have created this tool filled with summaries of key ideas from the book and questions that will make you think. Consider the questions on your own if you like. Or better yet, gather some other soulprint archaeologists, and talk through these questions together.

Its thrilling to me to think of what God might show you, and do in you, through your search into how He made you. The potential is infinite. Remember, you are His masterpiece, a one-of-a-kind original, and He isnt done perfecting you yet.

Too often our true identities get buried beneath the mistakes weve made, the insecurities weve acquired, and the lies weve believed. But we can get back to our true identities and our true destiniesour soulprintsif were willing to undergo a process of self-discovery. Over time well begin to see ourselves as Gods masterpieces. Well see ourselves in His image. And paradoxically, seeing ourselves as conformed to the image of Christ will also mean seeing ourselves as unique. Theres no one else like you, no one else like me. And being true to ourselves and true to God enables us to escape regret and find fulfillment.

1. Which phrase best describes where youre at on your journey of self-discovery?

(optional) Soulprint group activity: Share a few pictures of yourself from over the years, and talk about how youve changed on the inside as well as the outside.

*Davids defining moment #1: rejecting King Sauls armor and choosing stones for his sling instead. Read 1 Samuel 17 (key verses: 3840).

2. When you think about the choice David had to makeadopt someone elses armor or use his own familiar weaponwhat choice does it make you think about in your own life?

3. Do you have a talent that others arent aware of? An idiosyncrasy? An experience others may not know about? Describe it.

4. When you think about Christs character, what are some adjectives that come to mind? (Examples: compassionate, determined.) Which of these adjectives describe your own character?

5. What did God design you to accomplish in this life? Where are you at in fulfilling that destiny?

Who likes delays and disappointments? Nobody. But what if we started looking at them as opportunities for our soulprints to be more fully formed in us? God has a way of using perceived disadvantages to refine and redefine us. So we need to stop putting our confidence in the things we think we can control. And we need to start putting our confidencea holy confidencein what God is doing, regardless of how painful it may be in the short run. In this way our disappointments become divine appointments and we develop an inner unconquerableness.

*Davids defining moment #2: using his skills with the harp and the slingshot in new ways. Read 1 Samuel 1617 (key verses: 16:1423 and 17:3437).

1. Imagine that you were transported back in time to a hillside near Bethlehem and told the shepherd boy David, You know, one day you will use your harp to soothe the king, and you will use your slingshot to kill Israels most fearsome enemy. What do you think he would say in response?

2. Name a compensatory skill that youve developedsomething youve learned to do to compensate for a disadvantage. How does this compensatory skill help to reveal your identity and your destiny?

3. Looking back on your past, what is one way that God took a delay, disappointment, or disadvantage and used it for good in your life?

(optional) Soulprint group activity: Take a sheet of paper and draw a dozen or so dots on it, giving each dot a label that identifies a defining moment (good or bad) in your life. Share your work with others in the group, and talk about what this game of connect the dots reveals about your soulprint.

4. Would you say that youre growing in your ability to trust God in the hard spots of life? If so, how?

5. What perceived disadvantages in your life right now seem to be hindering you? How might God use them to help you fulfill the destiny He has in mind for you?

The past matters. And so its important to create memorials to our memorieslifesymbolsto remember the important events that have formed who we are and who we are becoming. God will help us choose what to remember and teach us how to give them the right meaning. Our lifesymbols will then becoming powerful means of connecting our identities with our destinies.

1. If its true that our combination of memories makes us who we are, as this chapter declares, then who are you?

2. Are you the kind of person who tends to think about the past a lot, perhaps observing special anniversaries or using photos as memory aids? Or do you mostly stay focused on the present or the future? Why do you think you are that way?

*Davids defining moment #3: killing Goliath and keeping Goliaths armor. Reread 1 Samuel 17 (key verses: 5154).

3. In the months and years that followed his victory over Goliath, what do you think David was reminded of when he looked at the giants armor?

(optional) Soulprint group activity: Do a show-and-tell with one or more of your most precious keepsakes, explaining why theyre meaningful to you.

4. What kind of memory management do you need to do to move toward your God-given destiny? What past events do you need to start recalling to memory? Stop remembering so much? Reinterpret?

5. When you think about your very earliest memories, which one stands out? What do you think Alfred Adlers phrase And so life is means when applied to this memory?

6. What tangible symbols or mementos could you use to remind yourself of some of the defining moments in your life?

We tend to think that what we do in life is whats most important. But to God, who we become is far more important. This means that a big part of our soulprints is a matter of character. We have to have integrity. We cant take shortcuts, because if we do, well short-circuit Gods plan for our lives. Hes given us consciences and willpower to choose whats right. As we obey Him and live with integrity, we may not earn all the praise from the world that we crave, but well do what matters more: give glory to God.

(optional) Soulprint group activity: Have each group member write his or her answer to the question, If you had to describe yourself in one word, what would it be? on a slip of paper. Mix up the slips, then see if the group can guess who wrote which word.

1. How strong would you say is your desire for attention and praise from other people?