Faithful on Fridays Blog

You are Gifted

Here’s the story. A good friend visits and brings a gift. He’s very excited about his choice and delivers it with a broad smile. He’s thinking, “She’s really gonna like this! Can’t wait to see her face when she opens it!” He gingerly hands it to her in anticipation, watching her face for a response. She receives it graciously, with a smile, sets it on the table unopened, and goes about the rest of his visit.

What emotions would you guess this friend will experience? Disappointment, frustration, sadness, rejection? You may think, how ungrateful not to open the gift or even acknowledge it. The gift was hand-picked, well thought out, and specifically chosen for her!

Here’s the kicker; this may be about you. God has uniquely gifted you in this life with talents that no one else possesses. You may not realize them today but they’re there. You may have left them on the table, unopened. Maybe you know about one or two of them but you haven’t done much with them; they are opened and visible but still on the table.

The gifts of God, given through the Holy Spirit, have designated purposes. He specifically chose your strengths and talents and His desire is for you to use them to benefit His Church. The purposes of the gifts of the Spirit are for the Body of Christ to be built up and we all play a part. “Now you have every spiritual gift you need as you eagerly wait for the return of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Corinthians 1:7 NLT) You may wonder what your gifts are, you undoubtedly have several (1 Cor. 12:11) so to help you identify them I have a question for you to consider:

What makes your heart beat a little faster, gets you excited about a topic, or you just know that you want to be involved in some venture?

Scripture lists the various gifts in several places but they are not explained (Rom. 12, 1 Cor. 12, Eph. 4, 1 Peter 4). Find a book or google spiritual gifts and find some areas that interest you, then ask the Lord to give you opportunities to begin using these gifts. He has been standing off to the side waiting for you to open that package; I sense He’s smiling.

These gifts are also important as we experience the end times. If you read the parable of the 10 servants (Luke 19:11-27) you’ll clearly see how important your spiritual gifts are. After studying that parable I realized that Jesus was serious about His gifts that remain unopened.

Be encouraged today to open your gift, find out how to help your Christian community in ways that stir up your passions. There are unlimited sources out there that need your gifts, no one else’s will do.

“As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace:” 1 Peter 4:10 ESV