10 Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. 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.
1 Peter 4:10-11 (NIV)
What do you do well? Sing? Teach? Paint? Cook? Design? Write? Encourage? Think? Organize? Entertain? Pray? Lead? Something else? Each of us has multiple gifts, talents, and abilities. What are yours?
Here’s a slightly more difficult question: Who or what is the source of your abilities? Where did they come from? Who should get the credit for them?
The Apostle Peter tells us that God is the ultimate source of our abilities. In 1 Peter 4:10 he speaks of “whatever gift you have received.” In the next phrase he says that we are to be “faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.” His point is that God has given us our abilities. We didn’t earn them. That’s why Peter calls them “gifts;” and that’s why he refers to them as “God’s grace in its various forms.”
The singer’s voice is a gift from God. The leader’s charisma and vision come from her Creator. The athlete’s body was given to him by God. The scientist’s mind is a gift from God. The variety of talents and abilities is endless, and each one is a gracious gift from our creative God.
Take a few minutes to think about your abilities. How has God gifted you? How has He used you in other people’s lives?
Do you think of your talents as gifts from God? When was the last time you stopped to thank Him for the gifts He’s given you; and how often do you ask Him to help you to use those gifts for the benefit of others?
Thank you Clay for posting this wisdom, for those of us doing the Project, they are particularly applicable.
Thanks, Roger . . . and thanks for your help with the Project!