19
Oct '19
Gifted
19
Oct '19
In His grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well. So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out with as much faith as God has given you. If your gift is serving others, serve them well. If you are a teacher, teach well. If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging. If it is giving, give generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly. Romans 12:6-8
One of the greatest lessons I have learned over the years is that we are all gifted. My wife for example is incredible at getting things done. She is kindhearted and loving, and when there is a goal she has set in her mind, she works tirelessly at it. She will not let anything stand in her way, and rather than my telling her, “No, you cannot do it,” my time is far more productive in saying, “Honey, what do you need?” Then, we work together to figure a way to make it happen. Being married for 23 years taught me how to better understand her. You might think this makes her some tyrannical obsessed woman, but this is far from the truth. You see, she gives this gift freely most often to me. When I have doubts of something or question whether I can achieve something, she kicks into the very mindset that helps her be successful. She’s encouraging, and incredibly thoughtful. This is among many of the reasons I am humbled to have her as my better half.
We all have been gifted by God to do certain things. There are great encouragers and others who are gifted to lead. There are things that through the Holy Spirit produces fruits of the spirit like love, patience, and self-control that are shown through other gifts (see Galatians 5:22-23). Our goal is thus two-fold. First, we must be willing to go the extra mile to identify those strengths that God has given us. There are many churches that do this through their own tests, but there are books and assessments that do an excellent job of identifying those strengths that lie within us. Many of you may already know what those very strengths are, but you are unaware of them because if you were like me, we assume everyone has it. They don’t. Ask someone who knows you, “What do I do well?” We know God makes each and every one of us unique, and our differences are to be celebrated. Our second goal is to use these gifts freely. God did not give them to us to simply hoard. As Jesus says in the Parable of the Three Servants (see Matthew 25:14-30), those who use their talents to earn more of them are praised by their master, and the ones who hide it lose it. We must be focused on using them not only for our sake but also others. We should pray for opportunities where we can use them for it is often there, we are given a window to share the Glory of God to others. This is why Paul spoke so adamant about using the gifts God gave us.
God’s grace is enough for all of us. He takes our lives filled with guilt and shame and replaces it with a hope that says we are worthy. As such, He has given us gifts by which we can be a light for Him in this world. Let us take time to understand that which God has gifted us with and use them for others to see what He can do. How will you go about in learning and understanding the gifts God has given you? What ways can you give of your time for God’s glory? My prayer is that we give thanks to God and use that which He has gifted us for. Amen.
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~Kent
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About Kent:
“I am what all Christians are: flawed and always growing. I am not immune to failure, and I don’t always do the right things, but I learn from my mistakes, and always show love to all who I know. Furthermore, through Christ I have joy knowing I have His grace even though I didn’t deserve it and His love even as I can’t imagine it. I have written devotion for the past 14 years using my life’s experiences both before and after being born again and focusing on its relevance to Biblical teachings and today’s culture.”
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