I was praying the other night, and I found myself "lacking." Just feeling like although I'm trying hard to love with every bit of me, there's just more to give to God - a reserve battery power that I can't figure out how to tap into yet.
Has anyone else ever felt this?
Anyway, so I prayed to God to help me figure out how to find this love within myself - to love Him with all of my heart AND my soul AND mind AND strength. All of it. I was beginning to feel very frustrated with myself.
So literally the next day, I found a book called "The Young Lady in Waiting." The book addresses everything I've been thinking about. (And besides that, it's just a great book for girls our age....from what I've read.)
Now, I know I shouldn't be surprised, but when God answers my prayers like that, it always stuns me. It shouldn't....because He always answers prayers...but when it's so obvious like that, and answered so quickly, it just always amazes me. So I thought I'd share.
This week's thought is heavily influenced by that book. I wanted to do a two-part thought on "gifts." This first week's is about physical gifts God has given us each, individually, and how we can use them to glorify Him. Next week's will be more about Spiritual gifts - a topic I'm newly getting into. I had decided last week to do these two topics, and once I started reading the book, I found some very interesting material that goes hand-in-hand with this week's topic of physical gifts.
SO....
I don't know about y'all, but I don't ever think about my "gifts." It makes me feel very prideful, for whatever reason. But today, I want to invite us all to think about the gifts God has blessed us with. These gifts are numerous and personalized to make each of us unique. I believe He has given us each these special gifts so that we can use them to serve Him and to help each other.
Here are some examples of physical gifts and how we can use them:
1. Teaching - Some people are natural-born leaders. These people feel comfortable preaching and teaching. If this is you, consider (if you haven't already) starting a small group, a bible study, or maybe even Sunday school teaching. If you have speaking and really being able to get through to people - use it, honey! Work it.
2. Encouragement - This goes hand-in-hand with what we talked about the last couple of weeks. Awesomely, this is something we can all do. Some of us are born just wanting to encourage others. I am one of those people. I LOVE seeing other people happy and seeing other people succeed.... Probably more than I like seeing myself happy. Even if this isn't one of your main qualities, though, I'm sure as Christians we all like to help and encourage each other....and it so easy! Send a little note. Make it a point to tell people how much you appreciate them. If there is someone who you really look up to spiritually, tell them what parts of their faith you really admire. A little bit of encourage can really change someone's day.
3. Some Christians really have a heart for service...and are really good at it! I know all kinds of friends who love LOVE missions as a way to serve God. I think this is a great and major way to serve God. If this is you, I urge you to just exercise this gift as much as possible. This is a gift I admire; I think the world needs more people like you! I can't name all the service opportunities out there; there are too many. All I can say is, if this is you and a service opportunity opens up, don't be afraid to take it. Share your passion and gift with the world!
Now, I have only named a few of the most generic and obvious gifts. Think about what God has specifically given you. Are you a great listener? Maybe God gave you the gift of music? Hospitality? Pick the top 3 (or if you want, go for all of them,) write them down, and then think of different ways you can use them to serve God and help others.
I love this exercise, because it helps - at least me - to figure out who I am in Christ and how I can serve better. Besides this, it reminds me of all the blessings God has given all of His children. We are all unique and truly His!
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