How do I know Pastoral ministry is right for me?
The Holy Spirit can use an inner compulsion in your heart that God wants you to proclaim the Gospel and to shepherd a congregation of believers as the first step to lead you to be a pastor. Yet such inner compulsion may come from false motivations so it is hazardous to place great stock in such an “inner call.”
Since we believe that the Holy Spirit works through other people and other physical means, a better indicator that God wants you to “aspire” to be a pastor is the objective assessment by other believers that you have the gifts from God for this “noble task” (1 Tim. 3:1).
Affirmation by other believers should be supplemented by your own self-evaluation to recognize that you can serve the need of God’s people and the humility to realize that you need to be taught the skills to effectively carry out the tasks of the ministry.
Ultimately, you will want those entrusted with this task to affirm that you have the necessary skills and welcome a formal call from God through a particular congregation of believers to serve them with the Word and Sacrament as a servant of Christ.