--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Calling is not only a matter of being and…" description: "\"Calling is not only a matter of being and doing what we are but also of becoming what we are not yet but are called by God to be.\" — Os Guinness" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/96b/os-guinness-6581_becoming_calling-is-not-only-a-matter-of-being-an_685560.png" --- # Calling is not only a matter of being and doing what we… ![“Calling is not only a matter of being and doing what we are but also of becoming what we are not yet but are called by God to be.” quote by Os Guinness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/96b/os-guinness-6581_becoming_calling-is-not-only-a-matter-of-being-an_685560.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/96b/os-guinness-6581_becoming_calling-is-not-only-a-matter-of-being-an_685560.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/96b/os-guinness-6581_becoming_calling-is-not-only-a-matter-of-being-an_685560.png) > “Calling is not only a matter of being and doing what we are but also of becoming what we are not yet but are called by God to be.” [Os Guinness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/os-guinness/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Calling involves both embracing current identity and evolving into a divinely‑intended future self. **In simple terms:** A call blends who you are and who you’ll become. Key Takeaway Pursue growth aligned with purpose. Themes purpose identity spiritual growth Mood hopeful serene Type theological motivational When to use this quote - career transitions - faith journeys - leadership roles Key Concepts theology personal development Questions to Reflect On - What aspects of your calling feel unfamiliar? - How can you honor your present self while evolving? A Different Perspective Changing identity can feel unsettling. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Called by god](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/called-by-god/) [God](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/god/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) ## Related quotes > [When you're called by God, when He places that call upon your life, there is an authority you begin to walk in.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-roberts/when-you-re-called-by-god-when-he-places-that-call-upon-your-life/) [Sam Roberts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-roberts/) > [What God is doing today is calling people out of the world for His name. Whether they come from the Muslim world, or the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-graham/what-god-is-doing-today-is-calling-people-out-of-the-world-for-his/) [Billy Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-graham/) > [“All things that happen to those who love God, to those who are called by God, are blessings.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ed-lapiz/all-things-that-happen-to-those-who-love-god-to-those-who-are-called/) [Ed Lapiz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ed-lapiz/) > [“If you are called by God, the time will come when He expects certain fruits from you”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sunday-adelaja/if-you-are-called-by-god-the-time-will-come-when-he-expects-certain/) [Sunday Adelaja](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sunday-adelaja/) > [We are called by God to do theology, that is, to live our lives with a moment-by-moment consciousness of God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-david-tripp/we-are-called-by-god-to-do-theology-that-is-to-live-our-lives-with-a/) [Paul David Tripp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-david-tripp/) > [We are called by God to live by faith and in spirit, to long and desire for His promises. It's not yet seen but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/innah-delos-angeles/we-are-called-by-god-to-live-by-faith-and-in-spirit-to-long-and/) [Innah Delos Angeles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/innah-delos-angeles/) > [Since God alone provides the means for the successful accomplishment of any task, it seems evident that a person needs to be called by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/basil-moreau/since-god-alone-provides-the-means-for-the-successful-accomplishment/) [Basil Moreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/basil-moreau/) > [“As we go to the places where we are called by God—sometimes gladly, sometimes reluctantly, always in anxiety—we are drawn into the newness of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-brueggemann/as-we-go-to-the-places-where-we-are-called-by-god-sometimes-gladly/) [Walter Brueggemann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-brueggemann/) > [At first we feel called by God and attracted by him. We grow in our vocation and get the impression that God has gripped…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/notker-wolf/at-first-we-feel-called-by-god-and-attracted-by-him-we-grow-in-our/) Notker Wolf > [“One never forgets their true calling, no matter how far they run”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angie-stanton/one-never-forgets-their-true-calling-no-matter-how-far-they-run/) [Angie Stanton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angie-stanton/) > [Before 'Mindhunter,' I was doing this show called 'Looking' on HBO.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-groff/before-mindhunter-i-was-doing-this-show-called-looking-on-hbo/) [Jonathan Groff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-groff/) > [If we knew what it was we were doing, it would not be called research, would it?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/if-we-knew-what-it-was-we-were-doing-it-would-not-be-called-research/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [Called or not, God is always there.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-jung/called-or-not-god-is-always-there/) [Carl Jung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-jung/) > [I want you to just let a wave of intolerance wash over you. I want you to let a wave of hatred wash over…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/randall-terry/i-want-you-to-just-let-a-wave-of-intolerance-wash-over-you-i-want-you/) [Randall Terry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/randall-terry/) > [“If we choose to be distracted by the scores of things around us we may find ourselves either backsliding in our walks, or remaining…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-houge/if-we-choose-to-be-distracted-by-the-scores-of-things-around-us-we/) [Adam Houge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-houge/) ## More by Os Guinness > [Too often we forget that the great men of faith reached the heights they did only by going through the depths.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/os-guinness/too-often-we-forget-that-the-great-men-of-faith-reached-the-heights/) [Os Guinness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/os-guinness/) > [There are lots of people depending on the government who are good, honest citizens who have worked all their lives.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/os-guinness/there-are-lots-of-people-depending-on-the-government-who-are-good/) [Os Guinness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/os-guinness/) > [American views today are weak, confused, and divided. On one side, many progressive liberals still think that we humans are essentially good and getting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/os-guinness/american-views-today-are-weak-confused-and-divided-on-one-side-many/) [Os Guinness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/os-guinness/) > [What is undeniable is that when comforts and convenience sap our energies and idealism, inactivity secretes sloth in to our minds like a poison…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/os-guinness/what-is-undeniable-is-that-when-comforts-and-convenience-sap-our/) [Os Guinness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/os-guinness/) > [Freedom is not the permission to do what you like. It's the power to do what you ought.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/os-guinness/freedom-is-not-the-permission-to-do-what-you-like-it-s-the-power-to/) [Os Guinness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/os-guinness/) > [“It is realistic rather than cynical to observe that in a fallen world there are degrees of virtue in relation to what is right,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/os-guinness/it-is-realistic-rather-than-cynical-to-observe-that-in-a-fallen-world/) [Os Guinness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/os-guinness/) > [For the grand and inescapable tradition of western literary classics confronts us with fundamental choices over our understanding of words, reading and art, as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/os-guinness/for-the-grand-and-inescapable-tradition-of-western-literary-classics/) [Os Guinness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/os-guinness/) > [“The story is told of Socrates walking through the market in Athens, with its groaning abundance of options, and saying to himself, "Who would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/os-guinness/the-story-is-told-of-socrates-walking-through-the-market-in-athens/) [Os Guinness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/os-guinness/) > [By our uncritical pursuit of relevance we have actually courted irrelevance; by our breathless chase after relevance without a matching committment to faithfulness, we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/os-guinness/by-our-uncritical-pursuit-of-relevance-we-have-actually-courted/) [Os Guinness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/os-guinness/) > [Evangelicalism can only remain evangelical if it is passionately serious about truth and theology.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/os-guinness/evangelicalism-can-only-remain-evangelical-if-it-is-passionately/) [Os Guinness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/os-guinness/) > [“Sometimes when I listen to people who say they have lost their faith, I am far less surprised than they expect. If their view…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/os-guinness/sometimes-when-i-listen-to-people-who-say-they-have-lost-their-faith/) [Os Guinness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/os-guinness/) > [“Neither secular progress nor secular progressives have brought the West where they once promised. Nor can they.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/os-guinness/neither-secular-progress-nor-secular-progressives-have-brought-the/) [Os Guinness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/os-guinness/) > [This is also why it is wrong to treat God as a grand employment agency, a celestial executive searcher to find perfect fits for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/os-guinness/this-is-also-why-it-is-wrong-to-treat-god-as-a-grand-employment/) [Os Guinness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/os-guinness/) > [We human beings are never happier than when we are expressing the deepest gifts that are truly us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/os-guinness/we-human-beings-are-never-happier-than-when-we-are-expressing-the/) [Os Guinness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/os-guinness/) > [Christ is the only way to God, but there are as many ways to Christ as there are people who come to Him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/os-guinness/christ-is-the-only-way-to-god-but-there-are-as-many-ways-to-christ-as/) [Os Guinness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/os-guinness/) [Explore all 98 Os Guinness quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/os-guinness/) ## More Becoming quotes > [Focus on becoming more to achieve more while doing less](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hal-elrod/focus-on-becoming-more-to-achieve-more-while-doing-less/) [Hal Elrod](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hal-elrod/) > [If the media is sending girls the message that their value lies in their bodies, this can only leave them feeling disempowered and distract…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-siebel-newsom/if-the-media-is-sending-girls-the-message-that-their-value-lies-in/) Jennifer Siebel Newsom > [But I already saw no great difference between the psyche and spirituality. To amass knowledge without becoming wise is not my idea of progress…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-scott-peck/but-i-already-saw-no-great-difference-between-the-psyche-and/) [M. Scott Peck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-scott-peck/) > [It's easy to say, let's go in and get the bad guys. But you have a divided country of Sunnis and Shias. The United…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tulsi-gabbard/it-s-easy-to-say-let-s-go-in-and-get-the-bad-guys-but-you-have-a/) [Tulsi Gabbard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tulsi-gabbard/) > [The path I choose through the maze makes me what I am. I am not only a thing, but also a way of being--one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-keyes/the-path-i-choose-through-the-maze-makes-me-what-i-am-i-am-not-only-a/) [Daniel Keyes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-keyes/) > [Becoming famous is a really shocking thing, especially when you don't have aspirations to it. It got to the point where I would try…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-moyet/becoming-famous-is-a-really-shocking-thing-especially-when-you-don-t/) [Alison Moyet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-moyet/) > [When other boys dreamt of going to the moon or becoming doctors, I wanted to be a designer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/olivier-theyskens/when-other-boys-dreamt-of-going-to-the-moon-or-becoming-doctors-i/) [Olivier Theyskens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/olivier-theyskens/) > [One is not born a genius, one becomes a genius; and the feminine situation has up to the present rendered this becoming practically impossible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-de-beauvoir/one-is-not-born-a-genius-one-becomes-a-genius-and-the-feminine/) [Simone de Beauvoir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-de-beauvoir/) > [The dream of coming back is becoming a reality. A lot of the uncertainty about the future has been cleared up. A lot of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-tagliabue/the-dream-of-coming-back-is-becoming-a-reality-a-lot-of-the/) [Paul Tagliabue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-tagliabue/) > [I'm getting to a point where everything is becoming streamlined in my life. I'm learning how to stand onstage for two hours and play…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-mayer/i-m-getting-to-a-point-where-everything-is-becoming-streamlined-in-my/) [John Mayer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-mayer/) > [The term 'Pre-Raphaelite' is in danger of becoming one of the most misused tags in art history](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-wood/the-term-pre-raphaelite-is-in-danger-of-becoming-one-of-the-most/) Christopher Wood > [We are somehow the children of the planet, we are somehow its finest hour; we bind time, we bind the past, we anticipate the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/we-are-somehow-the-children-of-the-planet-we-are-somehow-its-finest/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [The reason so many of us are obsessed with becoming stars is because we are not yet starring in our own lives. The cosmic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marianne-williamson/the-reason-so-many-of-us-are-obsessed-with-becoming-stars-is-because/) [Marianne Williamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marianne-williamson/) > [In a personal way, to do with family and the father-son relationship, in a kind of artistic way with regard to him being an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-serkis/in-a-personal-way-to-do-with-family-and-the-father-son-relationship/) [Andy Serkis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-serkis/) > [Trying to be perfect may be inevitable for people who are smart and ambitious and interested in the world and its good opinion...What is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/trying-to-be-perfect-may-be-inevitable-for-people-who-are-smart-and/) [Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/) Browse all 4,715 Becoming quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Calling is not only a matter of being and doing what we are but also of becoming what we are not yet but are called by God to be.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Os Guinness" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/os-guinness/calling-is-not-only-a-matter-of-being-and-doing-what-we-are-but-also/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Becoming" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/os-guinness/calling-is-not-only-a-matter-of-being-and-doing-what-we-are-but-also/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/96b/os-guinness-6581_becoming_calling-is-not-only-a-matter-of-being-an_685560.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/96b/os-guinness-6581_becoming_calling-is-not-only-a-matter-of-being-an_685560.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/96b/os-guinness-6581_becoming_calling-is-not-only-a-matter-of-being-an_685560.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Calling is not only a matter of being and doing what we are but also of becoming what we are not yet but are…” — Os Guinness", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Os Guinness", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/os-guinness/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Calling is not only a matter...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/os-guinness/calling-is-not-only-a-matter-of-being-and-doing-what-we-are-but-also/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/os-guinness/calling-is-not-only-a-matter-of-being-and-doing-what-we-are-but-also/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```