Good Morning Friends,
“Each one should use whatever gift he has
received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various
forms. If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God.
If anyone serves, he should do it 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.” (1 Peter 4:10-11)
The list of gifts that God has given to His
people is long. Peter only mentions two of those gifts here, serving and
speaking, but there are many others that are listed in 1 Corinthians, Romans, and
Ephesians. Even those lists are not exhaustive, but just representative of some
of the kinds of gifts that God has given.
The manner in which we are able to contribute
to the Kingdom of God is a gift from God. What we do for the Lord does not come
out of our own talents and efforts, but from God’s provision. He enables us to
contribute to what He is doing in the world. That truth means that whatever credit
or praise comes because of what we have done isn’t ours to keep to ourselves,
it belongs to God. He created us, He gifted us, and He deserves the praise for
what He accomplishes through us.
The purpose of the gifts God has given us is
to serve others. They aren’t given to set us apart as special. They aren’t given
to demonstrate our value to God or how righteous we are in His sight. They
aren’t given to puff us up with pride. They aren’t given for our benefit at
all, they are given to us to be used to benefit others, to serve them.
The gifts God has given us are one way that
we can pass God’s grace on to other people. They are the way, at least one of
the ways, that God wants to use to touch the lives of others.
So, whatever it is that you have, whether
it’s a natural talent or a supernatural gift, it comes from God. Use those
things for Him, and for those around you.
His, by Grace,
Steve
No comments:
Post a Comment