In high school, I wanted to be like my friend Alyssa. Alyssa has a passion for loving others. She’s outgoing and good at making friends. I admire how she and her family often travel to serve communities that are struggling.
I’ve been out of high school for seven years now, and I wish I’d known sooner that God gives us different gifts. While love and service are important to all of us who follow Christ, my gifts are different from Alyssa’s. I love and serve differently than she does. And that’s okay. God didn’t create us all to be preachers. He didn’t create us all to prophesy on street corners. He didn’t create us all to be teachers.
No, in His great grace and love, God has given us each unique gifts that we can use to love and serve Him. The Bible says the church is the body of Christ. Everyone who has put their trust in Jesus is part of the body, though we are all different (1 Corinthians 12:27). There is great freedom in this truth. Imagine how boring the world would be if we all had the same gifts. Imagine how challenging it would be for the church to move together as one body.
In Romans 12:6-8, Paul writes, “If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.â€
Friends, we are free to love God and love others with the gifts God has given us. We don’t have to love and serve the same way. Like a body, the church needs different parts, and it needs people with different gifts. Let’s embrace the gifts God has given us as we become the hands and feet of Jesus in a broken world. • Becca Wierwille
• Have you ever wished you could be more like someone else? Consider taking a moment to thank God for how He made this person, and also thank Him for how He made you.
• What natural abilities and spiritual gifts has God given you? How might God be inviting you to use your unique gifts to serve others?
We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. Romans 12:6 (NIV)
Read Verses:
Rom.8.22-Rom.8.39
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