Use Them Well

I rarely write anything that directly asks anyone to do anything.  But today, for those that care to listen, I want to ask you to take a look at yourself and ask yourself a couple of questions.

“What are the gifts I have received from God?”

I’ve got a few.  I’m not quite sure that writing is one of them but communicating certainly is and that’s probably more important than how well I construct a sentence to satisfy the grammar police.

It is funny, though.  When I tried to use my gifts to satisfy myself, I managed to believe that I had somehow blessed myself with these talents and abilities.  There were quite a few times I just gave up on them because the talents and abilities I had never seemed to propel me as far as I thought they should.

But, when I began to serve God with all my heart, I recognized that these gifts were far more than anything I could have given myself and in God’s hands they did far more than I alone can do.

“What gift am I not using for God’s work?”

I hate to ask myself this question.  Why?  Because there always seems to be an answer and the answer seems to require more of me.

In actuality, it doesn’t require more of me but I require more of God, which in every single case up to this point in my life seems to be a positive.  Douse anything with more of me and a roaring fire becomes a wet blanket.

Asking myself this question always, always shows me my need for God along with others’ need for the same thing.  There is always room for more God in my life.

Sometimes I am required to give something up but I am learning that giving up something I think I love  or like or require and replacing it with perfect truth and love in action is a sweet deal for me.  I almost feel like God is getting cheated on this deal.

1 Peter 4:10 God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another. 11 Do you have the gift of speaking? Then speak as though God himself were speaking through you. Do you have the gift of helping others? Do it with all the strength and energy that God supplies. Then everything you do will bring glory to God through Jesus Christ. All glory and power to him forever and ever! Amen.

Each of use has a gift.  Oh, we like to make the gifts sound extraordinary and mystical and sometimes they are.  But the gifts that seem to be the most amazing to me are more simple and commonplace.

It really doesn’t matter to the creator of the universe whether he is working with Billy Graham or Billy the Kid, whatever you are is what he needs.  It isn’t so much what your gift is, it is what you are doing with it.

Use them well to serve one another.

Having the gift of speaking doesn’t necessarily mean you can stand in front of a group of people and preach the Word.  No, it can mean sitting next to someone and reaching out to them.  Your gift may be the tone of your voice, the empathy in your heart and a love that comes from outside of yourself.  It may only reach one person at a time.

When I have been in places where Christianity didn’t seem to give me enough, pick me up enough, carry me enough, encourage me enough, I have found that giving enough of what God has blessed me with makes all the difference in the world.

It makes me see what others need above what I need and my needs diminish under the weight of a giving heart.

What is your gift?  Where is God wanting you to take it and place it?

I have to ask myself these things often.  I have to look and see if this is where God really wants me today or am I just staying where I am because it has grown comfortable.

God seldom gets boring.  He loves to throw a wrench in the works to shake things up and move us to a new challenge with new people.

God has given us all gifts, use them well to  serve one another.