Day 19 | 1 Peter 4:10
As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace: 1 Peter 4:10 (ESV)
For Reflection:
God has given me a particular set of skills, with which to love and serve others. Yet I find myself often thumbing my nose at those abilities. Instead I desire other giftings, often those I see in others around me. (What’s that, you say? “Coveting?” Perhaps you are right.)
Why do I find it so difficult to embrace the gifts I have been given? Perhaps it is a point of pride: imagining that some gifts are better than others. That people will be more impressed with me if I can do such-and-such. To say, “Look at me!” Perhaps it is a point of envy: desiring that which others have, on the sole basis that I do not have it. Perhaps it is a point of self-esteem: insisting that I’m not qualified, that surely someone else is better suited. Perhaps it is a point of (dis-)obedience: Of the things I can do, some of them I do not want to do.
Notice the pattern yet? All the ways I shun my gifts are focused on ME and what I think. These are some of the lies that Satan uses to blunt our effectiveness for God’s kingdom. The world would tell us that the best kind of gifts are those we give ourselves, but the Bible tells us that the best kind of gifts are those given freely to others, out of love. When we turn our focus toward loving and serving others, meaningful change is brought to bear in the lives of those around us.
Let us Pray:
God, I confess that many times I do not embrace the gifts you have given to me. Instead I chart my own course, imagining that I know better than you how to build your Kingdom. Help me to lean into your strength, to trust your provision and wisdom, that I would be a conduit for your blessing to others. Amen.
Questions:
I wonder what opportunities there are to use my gifts that God has already placed in my path?
I wonder what it looks like to come alongside others and enable their giftings?