I am starting to read a new book titled Using Your Spiritual Gifts: Equipped to Serve. Engaged in Serving by Eddie Rasnake. One particular passage that really spoke to me today as I was reading through the reccommended Scripture was 1 Peter 4:10 - 11, which says, " 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. To Him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen." Wow... how awesome is it that God has dedicated a special spiritual gift for each and every one of us to use to glorify Him.
I have to admit, the whole reason I started reading this study was because I still have yet to discover what my spiritual gift really is. It is such a comfort and so touching that the Creator of our universe has picked one out especially for me, my very own spiritual gift. While I have not discovered what that is yet, I know that at the right time, and hopefully by growing closer to the Holy Spirit through this study, God will reveal the gift He has called me to use to serve.
That part is the small piece to the important part God has planned for me within the community. Once I discover that gift, Ephesians 2:10 indicates the task at hand. It states that we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works which God has prepared in advance for us to do. This means that though I have discovered my spiritual gift, I am required to use that to serve others, to bring them into deeper relationship with our Heavenly Father. What a task that is?! That is why the church is so important. While we are a church body, everyone has a different spiritual gift to offer, which benefits the community of believers. The church as a whole cannot function without each part of the body working together for the betterment of the Lord. Paul also wrote that while he knew it was greater to be in Heaven with the Father, he also knew that his work here on earth was extremely important to growing the community of believers (Philippeans 1:21-25).
What do you do to grow the community of Christ? While you may or may not know exactly what your spiritual gift is yet, you can be involved in the church, serving and loving others into a relationship with Jesus Christ, which is the one of the most important parts of our time here on earth. I must admit that there are times that I can look back and say, "Wow... I really failed at that opportunity God placed in front of me..." I am working to get there. Shouldn't we all be working towards serving and loving others? It's should be so easy... it could be a simple smile or ackowledgement of another person we come in contact with. Whether it's big or small, every action we have impacts the Kingdom. Let's make sure we have more moments where we can show others Christ's love and be an example of what it really means to live out the Christian life.
What are you doing for the body?
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