What’s your gift?
Read Romans 12 or 1 Corinthians 12 and you’ll discover that God has given to each Christian talents and gifts. The purpose–To use them, in the body of Christ (the Christian church), to glorify God.
Paul uses colorful writing to compare the Christian church to the human body. We can see, the human body is made of many parts–arms, legs, toes, ears, eyes, etc. Likewise, the body of Christ is composed of many parts, each member given unique gifts to be used in concert.
So . . . what part are you?
To follow through with Paul’s body illustration, I’d like to throw out the following thought for you to ponder.
Many people act like the Appendix. They may not view themselves as that. They may look in the mirror of their mind and say, “Wow, I do so much for my church. They couldn’t get along without me.” Yet, if we look at the reality of the situation, they’re appendixes, serving no practical purpose.
Over the years I’ve dealt with many of these people. Some will brag that they’ve been in the church for years. Maybe their family were founding members. “I have a stained glass window with my family name of it!” Others are blissfully ignorant of the fact that God has called them to minister, instead they think their pastor is the hired Christian. He does all the heavy lifting. “I put my $10 in the offering plate. Isn’t that enough?”
Yet, where the rubber meets the road, the only purpose these individuals serve is as pew dusters.
Maybe you feel I’m being kind of rough. Maybe I am. But if you have accepted God’s gift of salvation, He wants you to be an active member of the church, using your gifts to serve Him.
A couple simple facts about body parts-
- They work together.
- They serve the greater good (the body)
- They are all important for the job they do.
Mull over those points and try to consider how they relate to the body of Christ.
I’d like to leave you with one question– Do you act like an appendix? Stop it! Be a part of the body of Christ. Use your gifts for the glory of God!
1 Timothy 4:14a “Do not neglect the gift that is in you…”
Romans 12:6a “Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them…”