It Doesn’t Matter, They All Come from God
Last week we talked about being gifted and how, if we don’t use those gifts, they are of no value. Too often, we see our gifts as less important than the gifts others have, so we keep them to ourselves. But that’s not how God intended it to be. God made each of us unique and special.
It’s up to us to discover, build, and use the gifts we’ve been given.
The other side of this is that we can see our gifts as something to boast about. We tend to focus on our abilities rather than on the One who gave them to us. In Romans 12:3, Paul tells us, “Don’t think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us.”
Yesterday’s YouVersion Scripture of the Day was Galatians 1:10. Paul says, “Obviously, I’m not trying to win the approval of people, but of God. If pleasing people were my goal, I would not be Christ’s servant.” In the accompanying video, the speaker confessed that one of his struggles is being an achiever. He likes doing things well, and he likes being recognized for doing things well.
He then asks the question, “Do I want this to honor Jesus, or do I need someone to notice me?”
The goal shouldn’t be for people to think more of me because of Jesus. Rather, it should be that people think more of Jesus because of me.
Are we using the gifts we’ve been given to make Jesus known?
There are different types of gifts: physical, intellectual, emotional, and spiritual. Some of these are natural, some can be learned, and some are imparted to us by God. They are all part of who we’re made to be.
Paul explains how these different gifts can work together in Romans 12:4-5, using the analogy of the different parts of the body. “Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, so it is with Christ’s body. We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other.”
Some of the gifts listed in Romans 12:6-8 are prophecy, serving, teaching, encouraging, leadership, and showing kindness. This is only a small portion of the gifts we can have.
The questionnaire that was included in last week’s post was helpful in confirming what I already thought were some of my gifts.
The important thing to remember is who gave us these gifts and to use them to build God’s kingdom and to do it for the right reasons. Our gifts aren’t really about us. They are about what God can do through us when we recognize what He has given us and choose to use it for His purposes.