Affirmation & Life Application from Scripture-You Are Gifted

Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.  1 Peter 4:10 (NIV) from Bible Gateway

Affirmation-It is very easy for us to watch someone like Sandi Patty sing or Billy Graham preach and wish we had their gifts.  Well, we don’t and we never will, but that’s okay because Peter reminds us that we have our own gifts to use.  Well, they’re not exactly our gifts, they still belong to the Lord, He’s just letting us use them.  The more we use them for His glory to benefit others, the more we will be blessed and the more blessings we will be passing along to others.  

While others may try to diminish your gifts, God won’t do that.  Peter writes that we use “whatever gift you have received” which tells us (1) we have received a gift from God and (2) we are expected to be a faithful steward of it.  If we have a good voice, we aren’t a failure if we don’t sell a million CDs.  If we use that gift to bless others, even if it’s only a handful of people at a small church, we will be considered faithful, and therefore successful by God, even if our culture doesn’t recognize it that way.

Application-What are you good at?  What gift do you think God gave you?  If you aren’t using it in a way that touches other people’s lives, ask the Lord for the opportunity to do so.  He loves answering that type of prayer.