Chapter 38 Day Thirty-Second Use All That God Has Gave You

Day Thirty-Second Use All That God Has Gave You We are wonderfully made, each with his own strengths, One in Christ, let us go forward, Do what we were made to do. (Romans 12:5, Msg) Your life is a gift from God to you; How you use your life is your gift to God. - Danish proverbs God deserves the best in you. God made you for a purpose, and He expects you to make the best of your gifts.He doesn't want you to covet or worry about talents you don't have, but wants you to focus on the talents He has given you to use. When you try to serve in ways other than how God molded you, it is like trying to force a square peg into a round hole. It is not only frustrating, but effective, and a waste of your time, talent, and energy.The best way to use your life is to serve Him with the characteristics God has given you.To do this, you must discover your own uniqueness, learn to accept and enjoy it, and then use your strengths.

Discover your characteristics (SHAPE) The Bible says, "Don't be a fool, but know what God wants you to do and do it." Don't waste time, start discovering what God has given you and what God wants you to do now. Begin by Assessing Your Gifts and Talents Take the time to honestly review what you did well and what you didn't do well.Paul advises, "Try to estimate your talents intellectually." Make a list, then ask others for their opinion, and tell them you're looking for facts, not claims.Spiritual gifts and talents often require recognition by others.What do you think would happen if you thought you had the gift of teaching or singing and no one agreed?If you want to know if you have the gift of leadership, just see if you are followed; if not, you are not a leader.

Ask yourself: Which spiritual fruits in me are recognized by others?Where am I being successful?Both spiritual gift tests and talent rating scales have some value, but are of limited use.First, both are formulaic tests that do not take into account individual uniqueness. Second, the Bible does not define spiritual gifts, so all definitions are subjective and often denominational.Another problem is that the more mature you are, the more you manifest many of the characteristics of your gifts. You may be able to serve, teach, or give generously because of maturity, not because of spiritual gifts.

The best way to discover gifts and talents is to test them out by serving in different positions.I may have taken hundreds of gifts and aptitude tests when I was young, but I didn't know I had the gift of teaching because I never did!It was only after I started accepting preaching opportunities that I started to see results and accept the validation of others that "God gave me the gift to do this"! Many books turn the gift discovery process upside down. They say, "Discover your spiritual gifts first, and then you will know your ministry position." But the opposite is often the case.Just start serving, try different ministries, and you will discover your gift.You won't know your strengths until you're actually in ministry.

There are many hidden talents and gifts that you are unaware of because you have never tried to do them.So I encourage you to do something you've never done before.No matter what age you are, I urge you to never stop trying.I've seen a lot of people discover their potential in their seventies and eighties.I know a ninety-year-old woman who won a ten-kilometer race and didn't discover her love for running until she was seventy-eight! Don't try to find your gift without first volunteering for service.Just start serving, and you discover your gifts by committing yourself to ministry.Try teaching, organizing, leading, or playing an instrument or getting involved in youth ministry.If you don't try, you'll never know what you're good at.If it doesn't work, consider it a trial, not a failure.Eventually you will know what your specialty is.

Consider your interests and personality Paul advises, “Discuss who you are and what you have been given to do, and then commit to doing it.” It helps to hear from close friends; you can also ask yourself: What do I enjoy most?What would make me so energized that I lose track of time?Do I like regularity or a job with variation?Do I prefer to work as a team, or to serve alone?Am I an introvert or an extrovert?Am I thinking or feeling?Do I prefer to compete, or to cooperate? Examine your experience and learn from it Look back over your life and think about how God has shaped you.Moses said to the Israelites, "Remember everything you have learned about the Lord from your experiences with God." Forgotten experiences are worthless, and that is the benefit of keeping a devotional journal.Paul worried that the Galatian believers would waste their painful experience. He said, "Has all your past experience been in vain? I hope not!"

In our pain, failure, and confusion, we rarely see God's good will.When Jesus washed Peter's feet, he said, "You don't know what I'm doing now, but you will know later." Only after the situation has passed, can we realize that God's intention for allowing these unsatisfactory things to happen is good. Learning from experience takes time, and I suggest that you take a weekend of life reflection retreats, pause to see what God is doing in your life, and think about how He can use those life lessons to help others.There are many sources to help you do this. Accept and enjoy your features (SHAPE)

Since God knows best what is best for you, you should be grateful and accept His arrangements.The Bible says, "What right have you, man, to question God? How can an earthen vessel say to a potter, 'Why have you made me like this?After all, the potter has the right to shape the clay into his favorite vessel. " God sovereignly determines your character for the fulfillment of his will: therefore, you should not resent or resist it.Instead of trying to reinvent yourself to be like someone else, celebrate the uniqueness that God has given you alone. "Each of us receives a special gift according to the allotment of Christ".

Accepting who you are includes identifying with your limitations.No one can do everything in this world, and God doesn't ask people to do everything. We all have our own specific roles.Paul understood that he was not called to do everything or please all people, but to concentrate on the work God had shaped him to do."Our goal is to stay within the boundaries of God's plan," he said. "Boundary" refers to the scope of service that God has assigned to each of us.Your characteristics determine your expertise.We experience stress when our ministry goes beyond what God has given us.Just as athletes are placed on different tracks, we, too, must persevere and run the distance ahead of us.”So don't be jealous of the competitors on the next track, just focus on completing your schedule.

God wants us to enjoy the characteristics He has given us.The Bible says: "Do what you should do, so that you can be satisfied that you have done a good job, and you don't need to compare yourself with others." Galatians 6:4 Satan will try his best to take away the joy of our service: It can tempt you to compare yourself to others, or to change your ministry to fit other people's expectations, both of which are deadly traps that distract us.When you find yourself losing the joy of service, these two temptations may be the cause. The Bible warns us not to compare with others: "Do your best to do your work well, so that you can be proud of it. Don't compare with others." Galatians 6:4 Do not compare with others in terms of characteristics, ministries or results There are two reasons for the comparison.One, you can always find someone who is more capable than you, and you will feel discouraged; or you can always find someone who is less effective than you, and you will feel complacent.Both attitudes will take you out of ministry and rob you of your joy.

Paul said it is foolish to compare yourself with others.He said, "Because we dare not compare ourselves with those who recommend themselves. It is unwise for them to measure themselves and compare themselves with themselves." Meaning: "In all this comparison, grading, and competition In it, they miss the point." Here's what you'll find: People who don't understand the specifics of your ministry will criticize you and try to make you conform to what they think you should be; ignore them.Paul often faced criticism that misunderstood and slandered his ministry. His response was always the same: avoid comparisons, refrain from grandiosity, and seek only God's approval. One of the reasons Paul was used so much by God was because he refused to be distracted by criticism, comparisons to other people's ministries, pointless arguments, and so on.As John Bunyan said, "If my life is fruitless, it doesn't matter who praises me; if my life is fruitful, it doesn't matter who criticizes me." Continue to develop your characteristics (SHAPE) In the parable of talents, Jesus explained that God expects us to maximize our gifts, so we must cultivate our gifts and talents, keep our hearts warm, grow in character and personality, and broaden our experience so that our service will be better. Effective.Paul said to the believers in Philippi: "Increase in knowledge and understanding." He also reminded Timothy to "stir up the gift that God has given you." If you don't exercise your body, your muscles will weaken and atrophy.Likewise, if you don't use the talents and skills God has given you, you will lose them.Jesus used the parable of talents to emphasize this truth.The master said to the servant who misused the one thousand taels of silver: "Take the one talent from him and give it to the one who has ten thousand." If you don't use what God has given you, you will lose it; if you use it properly, you will lose it. God will double it for you. Paul said to Timothy, "Make good use of the talents God has given you . . . do them diligently." Whatever gift you have, it can be enlarged and developed through practice.For example: No one has the full-fledged gift of teaching, but after study, review, practice, a good teacher will become better, and in time, he may even become a master.Don't settle for a half-developed gift, but strive to learn. "Do your best to give God your best, a worker who does not need to be ashamed."Seize every training opportunity to develop your own characteristics and hone your ministry skills. One day in heaven, we will serve God forever: Today, we are preparing for eternal service on earth, just as athletes prepare for the Olympics, and we continue to train for the big day. "They did this only to obtain a perishable crown, but we obtain an immortal crown." We are preparing for eternal tasks and rewards!