Spiritual Gifts Devotional

Recently I went away for a glorious 3 days sans kids. It was hardest to leave T3 since he is still so little - but not so hard that I didn't enjoy myself. I attended a wonderful staff retreat for all the women laborers in our region. AND - bonus - I got to write a devotional for our time and share it with them. Funny how when you are going to teach on something God ends up teaching you a lot more on it than you ever thought possible.

The devotion was on spiritual gifts and this is what I shared (sorry it is in "speaking" form so just imagine my voice in your head reading it to you):

The Treasure that You Are – how God has gifted each of us.

I.
Recently my middle son Ben turned 4 and he had his first friend party. Four or five little people came over each with their gift just for Ben. Incidentally his older brother Gabe watched longingly with green eyes as Ben opened each gift that was given just to him. Well, unlike trinkets and toys that we can give each other for special occasions like birthdays that are intended “just for us”, our spiritual gifts are really for the benefit of others. Lets read Romans 12:4 -8 and Eph. 4:11-13 to see what I mean.

As we read Romans and Ephesians the first thing that I notice about the gifts God has given us is that it isn’t a gift for us! These gifts that we have been given aren’t just for our own benefit so we can feel special or have a little piece of Jesus in each of us. They are there to help those around us. Each of these listed really benefits those around us more than it benefits the gifted one.

Let’s look at the list of the different gifts God has given us: serving, prophesying, teaching, encouraging, generosity, leadership, mercy, apostles, evangelists, and pastors. Serving – Outward focus. Prophesying – how many of you prophesy to yourself? Outward focus. Encourage – outward focus.

Whenever gifts are mentioned they are for the benefit of the body of believers, not just a blessing to one individual. When we keep this in mind we don’t need to be shy about them. We also don’t need to look with “green eyes” when our sisters develop and grow them because that gift she has it isn’t really for her anyways – it is for me! And we all have a gift – and we are all in the process of figuring them out and fine tuning them. As we do that we need to use them as they were intended, to bless others around us.


II.
Just a few days ago I was so blessed to hear a speaker share Jesus’ heart for all of us. She used her unique talent for pottery along with her hard earned intimate knowledge of God’s love to bless and propel us toward Jesus. I left that time feeling closer to Jesus, more aware of His Intense love for me, and lighter in spirit in heart. I couldn’t help but bubble over His love on others for the rest of the day.
That is the effect we want to have with our gifts! We want to bless those around us but not just so they will like us or tell us how wonderful we are though let’s face it we all like that side-effect! We need to keep in mind the end goal is unity and maturity as we grow in our knowledge of God. We should aim to PROMOTE growth with our gifts.

Eph 4:12 (our gifts are there) to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up. Eph 4:13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

So this is what we are aiming for when we use our gifts. We are to “prepare” others for His work. Other versions say: equip, perfect, and train God’s people. When I use my gifting I should be focusing on equipping my sister with it. Be it through encouraging her. Helping her get organized with my gift of administration (this is not MY gifting btw). Taking her with me to share the Gospel because God has gifted me in evangelism. Drawing out nuggets of truth from His Word to bless someone else in the body.

Those are all examples of “preparing” God’s people around us.
I like how the MSG puts 4:13: MSG - 13 until we're all moving rhythmically and easily with each other, efficient and graceful in response to God's Son, fully mature adults, fully developed within and without, fully alive like Christ.
I’m sure we have all experienced a time or two of working on a team that was just going nowhere. Discord and miscommunication were the hallmarks. In the end nothing is accomplished. This verse casts the vision of what can be achieved when everyone brings their best to the table for the purpose of promoting the growth of the body. It reminds me of one of those wonderful “Jane Austin dances.” Everyone moving in rhythm with the music and knowing their part. It all flows perfectly and everyone is blessed by the beauty that is achieved. (not to mention the really cool outfits they all wore!).

Ladies, when we are working within our sweet spot – our gifting which is just pouring through us, we will empower our sisters and brothers to move more gracefully in response to Jesus.

But sometimes we hold back, don’t we. Different things keep us from using our gifting to our full potential. I want to end our time talking about that.

III.
I have always loved to write. As a young girl my friends and I would often write short stories to amuse ourselves and pass the time. Words have always come easily to me but only in the last 4 or 5 years have I given myself permission to explore and grow this talent. I had to work through fears of vulnerability, rejection and even seeing the worthiness of this pursuit. After all the world is filled with writers – and writing is just a talent, not even mentioned in the list of spiritual gifts.

The turning point for me was when I began to see that I truly could benefit the body with my writing craft. I became more confident and gave myself more permission to develop this skill. I also felt more confident to offer my help to others with their writing and in turn am blessed to know I’m helping them grow their God-given gift of teaching.

When we let our fears hold us back from trying out our gifts and talents, it reminds me of the parable of the talents in Matt. 25 – when the master gave three servants money to invest. The third servant was afraid and hid the talent and gave back to his master only exactly what he was given. The master was not pleased. Mat 25:29 For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him.

I hope I’m not making too much of a stretch in applying this to our gifting and what we do with them. Obviously Jesus is talking here about the kingdom of heaven. But I think the same principle can apply. We can’t let fear stand in our way of investing our gifts in people around us and reaping a harvest with them.
So often we can get tripped up – comparing our gifts or who is better at what, we think well she is soooo good at that and I’m on her team. That is my gifting too according to this test but obviously it isn’t needed. Shoot – even when I got an email yesterday that said Ronni and Marcia were the other two ladies sharing devotionals I had a small panic attack in my heart. What could I possible share that would even slightly measure up to the wisdom they will bring to us. See, I’m still learning to move past this one myself. Well, God uses multiples of things all the time doesn’t he? We have two hands, two eyes, two feet. Etc. This weekend will provide plenty of opportunity to watch each other with “green eyes” if we let it, just like Gabe watched Ben open his gifts. But lets move past that, shall we?!

Or maybe you are stuck in fear of failing yourself or Him. When I first came on EDGE that first “E” in EDGE really scared the heck out of me. I wasn’t sure what I even felt about evangelism, nor had I ever shared the gospel with a complete stranger before. But as I moved passed my fears of failure I discovered it is really pretty fun. And I even got to see gobs of women come to know Jesus that first year. I’m actually – this is a little embarrassing to admit – but I’m a little disappointed when I make an new friend and she already knows Jesus. I think, darn! I’d have loved to lead her to the Lord!

One last fear that trips us up is appearing self promoting. This was something I struggled with with my writing. How do I put my writing out there for all the world to see without appearing proud, etc. I’ve discovered that when I stop worrying about how I will come across and focus more on blessing that sister or brother next to me, I am free to use my gift how God intended – and it is all to His glory.
If we stay stranded in our fears of failure or rejection we will never use the gifts for what they were intended. Let’s use this weekend to let Jesus move us past whatever hinders us and lets encourage one another as we grow closer in unity and service to Him.

I pray we will all leave here more confident of His incredible love for us, more confident in the special gifts and talents He’s entrusted to us, and better prepared to bless others with those gifts and talents.

4:13: MSG - 13 until we're all moving rhythmically and easily with each other, efficient and graceful in response to God's Son, fully mature adults, fully developed within and without, fully alive like Christ.