Thinking About Gifts

"Do not neglect your gift, which was given you" 1 Timothy 4:14

Everyone has different talents and gifts. It's so interesting to see how the church functions when you look at it from the outside. There are people gifted in handling money, people gifted in teaching, people gifted in tending the youngest ones, people gifted in serving coffee and donuts, people gifted with a singing voice, people gifted with computer knowledge, and on and on and on. Every one's gift is different! What this verse in 1 Timothy reminds me of is that it is important to not neglect your gifts, and to use them when you have an opportunity. Because that gift, that talent, is a gift from God. Something special that He has blessed you with to make you unique and special.

So how do I know what is a gift or talent? Well really, God can use anything. :-) Someone who maybe has a talent for scrap booking would naturally have the talent to be somewhat organized and be good at laying things out on paper- maybe that person would be a natural for putting together each weeks bulletins. Or maybe that same person could put their scrap booking skills to good use and give the church bulletin boards a makeover. Someone with the gift for instruction would make a great teacher or a youth group leader. There are the obvious talents of music, playing an instrument, and preaching. But maybe someone who loves to read and spend time in the library would love to be responsible for a church library. Perhaps someone with a green thumb wants to tackle landscaping. Or maybe there's someone with a gift for throwing parties- yes, that's a gift, maybe that person would be the go-to person for planning showers and lunches.

Absolutely everyone has a talent, and most often the ones that we can use in the church are also the ones we use outside the church. Take a look at yourself and see what you're good at. What kind of hobbies do you have? God can even use someone who knits or someone who has a talent for keeping fish. The next time you find yourselves at a crossroads, wondering where you could serve, ask God for some direction. Ask Him simply to show you what abilities you have and where you could use them to serve Him. He will most certainly show you- sometimes in a subtle way, but sometimes it comes in a not-so-subtle way. Every talent you and I have can be used to bring glory to God, but sometimes we need a little help to see how that could be.

I've been cleaning our church for several years now. Apparently it is a talent... my home isn't particularly immaculate or clutter free- there's always toys and video games all over the place. But it is clean- the bathrooms are scrubbed frequently, and I'm always on the lookout for an errant spider web. I think nothing of pulling out the crevice tool on the vacuum and detailing the entire house. So I guess I was a good fit for the cleaning. The talent that I didn't think I'd be using anytime soon has proven to be one I really enjoy doing- and that's playing in the band. I'll tell you, I didn't particularly want to do it, but one day God brought someone into my day to day tasks who knew me "way back when" and the first thing they asked was if I still played the drums. Well, I still don't care so much for playing the drum set, but God showed me how I can use the talent I have for percussion in the church music setting, and that's been pretty fun. Who knew that you could worship God with drums? You can worship God by dusting, and you can worship God by counting money. God will use every talent you have if you simply offer it up to Him.

I know that someday, my willingness to serve and my talents in the kitchen are going to collide in a big way. God's going to use my knowledge of nutrition and my ability to cook for a purpose. I can't wait to see what it is, but in the meantime, I am going to follow the advice given to Timothy and continue to develop my talents. I will continue to be willing to learn and I will continue honing my skills, so that when the time comes and God wants them, I'll be ready and I will know what to do.