Amy Carroll » Ministry Development » How to Walk in Your Calling When Your Confidence is Crashing (Part 4)

How to Walk in Your Calling When Your Confidence is Crashing (Part 4)

 

Every year, even after joining the Proverbs 31 team, I’d walk into the ballroom at She Speaks and think, “What am I doing here?”

Surrounded by over 700 amazing women who love God and communicate His Word, I couldn’t figure out what in the world I could add. When I read her blog… When I heard her eloquence… When I marveled at her quick response (it takes me two weeks to come up with anything remotely wise)… I never felt like I measured up. Like I had anything worthwhile to contribute.

What’s a girl to do when she feels crushed by comparison?

Here are some steps to take that can help set you free from the comparison trap:

Define your ministry niche. God has created you uniquely. There’s no one else like you. Because of that simple fact, your voice is needed. We can find confidence in our God-created uniqueness instead of despairing that we’re not as good as the rest. In an audience, you’re going to connect with some people who don’t connect with me at all. Conversely, there will be some folks who feel like they’ve lived a parallel life with me while they don’t get you at all!

When we understand our ministry niche, defined by our life experiences and passions, it sets us free from comparison. The most powerful exercise I’ve done to find my niche is to develop a tagline. For those of you who have read this blog for awhile, you know I’m a huge proponent for having a tagline. Whether you’re an advanced speaker or a speaker-in-the-making who has never stood before an audience, having a tagline is an essential in my book. The power of the process is much more powerful than the product of the tagline.

If you’ve never developed a tagline, taglineguru.com is a fabulous free resource, or you could work with me. 🙂 Working on taglines with my coaching clients is one of my favorite things to do! Click here to read about coaching services.

Define the value you bring. One of the primary questions to ask as you define your ministry niche/develop a tagline is “What is the gift God has given me that I’m called to pass on to my audience?” All my messages are personal gifts from God long before I share them with an audience. Our messages should be lessons worked into our lives first. All of them should be needed shifts within our heart; then, and only then, do we have something valuable to share.

This is a new way to think about our messages and marketing as well. When we make this change in our thinking, comparison fades and marketing becomes about service instead of self-serving.

As speakers, we’re called to follow God and serve others. Comparison impedes both those callings. Only when we give up comparisons can we fully follow He who is beyond compare. 

beyond compare

So let’s do the things we need to do to step out of comparisons and into whole-hearted service!

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