Putting Gifts to Use

Putting Gifts to Use

Ephesians 4: ¹¹ It was he who “gave gifts to people”; he appointed some to be apostles, others to be prophets, others to be evangelists, others to be pastors and teachers. ¹² He did this to prepare all God's people for the work of Christian service, in order to build up the body of Christ. ¹³ And so we shall all come together to that oneness in our faith and in our knowledge of the Son of God; we shall become mature people, reaching to the very height of Christ's full stature.

 

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Seeing the mural, I was amazed! Someone had illustrated major events of the Bible in a way I could understand. Another person I ran into was very talented in growing gardens. She mentioned how it reminded her of bearing fruit and had many analogies.

 

• I thought gifts were only limited to being used in church.
• I limited gifts to churchy tests and certain language used only in churches.
• I wondered if I had any gifts because the church did not seem to value what I had to offer.

 

JESUS “gave gifts to people” according to the scripture. Paul explains that each gift given would be put to use for the work of the Christian service. The list he gives can sometimes be confused by activities defined in many churches. GOD’s appointment is sovereign and is above human definitions.

 

My Observations

• GOD wants me to build up the body of CHRIST
• GOD wants me to come together in oneness in faith and knowledge of the SON of GOD.
• GOD wants me to mature and someday reach the height of JESUS.

 

Overlooked talents cause many people to become disenchanted with churches. I mean, a person who is gifted in welding may want to use his or her talents, but is asked to work in children’s church instead. People who have many gifts may be apostles or prophets or evangelists or pastors or teachers and they do not even know it.

 

A writer may, in fact, be using her talents to glorify GOD in many ways. Some people who smile may be evangelizing as he walks down the street. A woman lying in a bed may invoke prayer. Limiting GOD has caused people to think their talent is useless. Quite the opposite. The gift HE gave each person is customized to reach others in HIS defined way. I am glad HE provided me with gifts that do not need to be compared to, or evaluated by other people’s gifts.

 

Challenge

• What is a mature response to what the writer wrote?
• Do you have gifts and talents that seem to be overlooked by people?
• Will you put your gifts and talents to use for the service of building up the body of CHRIST, knowing your gift is extremely important to GOD today?