Bible Reading: Romans 12:3-8, I Peter 4:10-11.
If you are like me and you love receiving gifts, my guess is that you like people being intentional about the gifts they give you. They must have done their investigation before giving you the gifts. I usually love the thought that went into the gift more than the gift itself. I have received a couple of gifts that when I got to open with all the appreciation in my heart, I knew I wouldn’t use it. On the other hand, have you ever gotten a gift for someone and after all the effort you put in to get the gift, a few moments before they opened it, you thought, “what if they don’t use it?”.
From our passage today, I love that God didn’t just give us gifts – supernatural abilities that the He gives each of His children to advance His purpose on earth- He was very intentional about the gifts He has given each and every one of us. Not just that, He has empowered us to use these gifts.
Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. I Peter 4:10-11 NIV
As God’s children, we have been called to be stewards of all that God has given us to advance His Kingdom. There is a lot that God has put in our hands to steward. Today we would look at how God calls us to be stewards of the gifts He has given us.
How can we steward these gifts?
- By Serving Other Believers
Our gifts are not just given to us to hoard or hide, we were given to share with other Christians in our world.
I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong— that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith.[Romans 1:11] NIV
With our gift, we can be of encouragement to someone, stir a friend’s faith, offer to heal a sick person, give generously to those in need, and strengthen a weak believer. Others don’t just benefit from us using our gifts to serve them, we also benefit from it.
- By Serving The World
God is doing one big thing on the earth- that is building His Kingdom. We can use our different and unique gifts collectively as The Church to serve this purpose. This service can help us connect the world to Christ so they can experience Him. We help the world fulfil its greatest need – the need for Jesus. Every time we deploy our gifts, we set up a moment for people to see Jesus.
For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us [Romans 12:4-6] NIV
As we use our gifts to serve Christians and the world we must let love be the driving force in stewarding our gifts. The use of our gifts is vain if love is not driving us.
Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing. I Corinthians 13:1-3 NKJV
“What are my gifts” or “how can I discover my gifts” are the commonly asked questions. You can start by asking the Holy Spirit today to reveal your gift(s) to you. In addition, you can also take a gift test at sycamore.church/gifttest to find out what your gifts are. The next right step is to serve with the gift you have discovered.
If you know your gift(s) and are using them already, there is someone in your world that you can be using your gift(s) to encourage or help discover theirs so that they can serve too.
In Prayer Today
Pray today to be driven by the love of God as you set out to steward the gifts the Holy Spirit has given you.
Oreoluwa Idowu
Ore volunteers with the Bible Engagement team at Sycamore
2 Comments
Jesulayomi
The use of our gifts is vain if love is not driving us.
So timely! Thank you!
Inioluwa Oyegbola
Love drives me to be a good steward. Thank you!