GIFTED TO SERVE

I Peter 4:10 God has given gifts to each of you from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Manage them well so that God’s generosity can flow through you.

God has given you at least one gift to serve Him with. Some of us have many gifts. Gifts are given with responsibility. We are responsible for using our gifts and how we use them. We are responsible for developing our gifts. God’s gifts are spiritual in nature.

Spiritual gifts have a purpose, and that is to honor and glorify Christ with them. Whatever our particular giftedness may be, we are to use them for God’s purposes and not our own. It is good for us to try to be the very best we can be if it’s for Jesus’ sake and not our own. He who uses his gifts to make himself known or to stroke his ego is abusing his gifts and dishonoring Christ.

Gifts are given as an expression of love. Because God loves us, He gives us means whereby we may serve Him. He never gives us a task to do without the means to do it. Your gifts are instruments in your hands to help you serve the Lord according to His plans for your life.

There is a wide variety of gifts given. The Lord combines our various gifts together so that together we can fulfill the will of God to reach the lost for Him. The various gifts given complement each other if used for God’s glory and not our own. Gifts do not define who we are and we should never let them. They should be seen as vessels in God’s hands to serve and honor Him.

Manage your gifts well. Don’t use them wrongly. Don’t use them sparingly. Don’t hide them. Don’t deny others the pleasure of observing you use them. Don’t hinder others from seeing God at work in you because of your not using your gifts. And, don’t abuse your gifts by using them to point to you instead of our Savior.