Gifts that Serve
1 Peter 4:10,11 10 As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace.11 If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.
Our gifts and talents are not just for show, or to only turn into a career or a form of income. Your gifts and talents aren't merely coincidence. They were distributed to you so you can effectively serve God and the body of Christ. Afterall, that is the reason you received gifts from God in the first place. So you can serve. That is what we are told here in 1 Peter.
In the previous blogs, I spoke about finding your gifts and talents and we see here that we are not only to find them, but we are to receive them also. Our gifts and talents are a gift given to us by God, and it takes seeking him out to begin to understand what he has instilled in us. Once you have found and understood what gifts he has given, we then must receive them, meaning take hold of that thing in order to use it. Do not let the gifts and talents that God has given to you go to waste. We are being called to use them to serve His kingdom and to serve one another as believers.
The blessings of God are rich, and he would love nothing more than to richly bless someone through you sharing your gifts with them. Blessing someone with the blessings gifted to you makes you rich with more than just money. So, when you experience sorrow and not riches check your sharing. The gifts given to us are given by God’s grace only. This points to them being unmerited divine assistance given to us not based on who we are, but on who He is. If these things were based on who we are as people, then we would be deserving of nothing at all. Knowing this, we need to go forth with our gifts and talents and do so with the strength that God provides to us. This is so that we stay on course with our ultimate mission which is to point others back to the wonderful glory of the one who blessed us in the first place.
Now, before I go, I want you to do me a quick favor. Grab a sheet of paper and draw a big comfy chair. Color that chair a color that sparks joy for you. My chair is green. It's giving resilience, possibilities, and life provoking inspiration to my heart right now. After you draw and color yours take a minute to ponder your chair, explore your chair, and how it makes you feel. Ok, now I want you to light a candle and put on some uplifting music, then glue, tape, or write your gifts and talents onto the chair. Do you see it? This is what you serve or will serve from your chair of service to others.
Meet me back here next Monday because we will be talking about the sharing of our gifts.
