Who gave us our gifts and talents, what are some of the
gifts and talents we have, where are we to use these gifts and talents?
Who gave us the gifts and talents that we have? I am sure your thinking, well this is easy,
God. You would be correct. The question is how do we know this. Where do we find this information. Of course we get this information from the
Bible.
Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and
cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither
shadow of turning. (James 1:17; KJV)
There are different kinds of gifts, but the same
Spirit. There are different kinds of
service, but the same Lord. There are
different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men. (1 Corinthians 12:4-6; NIV)
He has put his brand upon us-his mark of ownership-and given
us his Holy Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee that we belong to him, and as
the first installment of all that he is going to give us. (2 Corinthians 1:22; TLB)
Many of the Jews are now enemies of the Good News. But this has been to your benefit, for God
has given his gifts to you Gentiles. Yet
the Jews are still his chosen people because of his promises to Abraham, Isaac,
and Jacob. For God’s gifts and his call
can never be withdrawn. (Romans 1:28-29;
NLT)
So God created people in his own image; God patterned them
after himself; male and female he created them.
(Genesis 1:27; NLT)
God is the Creator of all things. He created the heavens and the earth and He
created us.. He created us in His
image. He gave us the gifts and talents
we have and He has ownership over our lives.
What are the gifts and talents that God has given us? The Bible make many references to the gifts
and talent God has given, but we also see these gifts and talents in everyday
life around us.
We have different gifts, according to the grace given
us. If any man’s gift is prophesying,
let him use it in proportion to his faith.
If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; if it
is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of
others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern
diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully. (Romans 12:6-8; NIV)
To one person the Spirit gives the ability to give wise advice;
to another he gives the gift of special knowledge. The Spirit gives special faith to another,
and to someone else he gives the power to heal the sick. He gives one person the power to perform
miracles, and to another the ability to
prophesy. He gives someone else the
ability to know whether it is really the Spirit of God or another spirit that
is speaking. Still another person is
given the ability to speak in unknown languages, and another is given the
ability to interpret what is being said.
(1 Corinthians 12:8-10; NLT)
Now all of you together are Christ’s body, and each one of
you is a separate and necessary part of it.
Here is a list of some of the members that God has placed in the body of
Christ: first are apostles, second are
prophets, third are teachers, then those who do miracles, those who have the
gift of healing, those who can help others, those who can get others to work
together, those who speak in unknown languages.
(1 Corinthians 12-27-28; NLT)
Today we might be confused by the different gifts and wonder
if any of those are still present today.
I believe all are present, but in many different ways. First let us look at the Spiritual gifts
listed in 1 Corinthians 12:27-28. The
first gift is the apostles. Normally
when we use the word apostle, we mean the 12 Desiples of Jesus, but the
definition of apostle is ’one sent.’
Someone who is sent out to preach the word of Jesus is an apostle or what
we today call a missionary.
Prophets are many times thought of as people who can see
into the future, but that is not always the case. Prophets are also people who communicate
God’s message, providing insight, warnings, corrections, and encourgement. In many cases this would be the ministers or
elders of your church. Teachers are those
who can teach the Word of God. This can
be not only your minister, but also Sunday School teachers, Youth Ministers,
and parents.
Those who do miracles are few and far between, but they
happen and they happen because of the Holy Spirit. A miracle is by definition an event that is
unique. Let me tell you about the
miracle of a baby that would not die.
The mother tried to abort her unborn baby three times and each time the abortion
was unsuccessful. The mother ended up
having the child and regets every considering the abortion.
There are those who have the gift of healing and don’t think
that the talents your doctors and nurses have are not gifts from God. Also those people in the church that can
comfort others when they are in physical and emotional pain have the gift of
healing.
There are people who serve others by helping others. Anyone who puts the needs of those around
them before their own needs has this gift.
Think of those people in the church who bake for families with illnesses
and death. They are using their talents
for God and the church.
The people who can get others to work together are the
leaders of the church. Your elders,
deacons, ministers, trustees, or anyone who can lead has been given this gift
by God.
Now the gift of tongues is very controversial, but I want to
keep it very simple. Paul makes it very
clear that no one should or will be able to speak in tougues if they can’t
understand what they are saying or no one is around to interpate what they are
saying. When I think of speaking in
other languages I think about those who have learn a second or third
language. I tried to learn Russian and
was not able to do it. I didn’t have
that gift, but for those who can and do so to teach the Word of God, that is a
gift from God.
These spiritual gifts are given by God for the benefit of
the church. A famous minister, Bill
Hybels says it like this; “God custom-designed you with your unique combination
of personality, temperament, talents, and background, and He wants to harness
and use these in His mission to reach this messed-up world.” There are many duties in the church that
require many gifts and talents. It is up
to each of us to find ways to serve God in church.
A spiritual gift is given to each of us as a means of
helping the entire church. (1
Corinthians 12:7; NLT)
While the Bible speaks about the many spiritual gifts and
talents he has given us, we can also see with our own eyes the many other gifts
and talents he has given us. Think about
famous people you know and what all they can do. Peyton Manning threw a record 49 touchdown
passes in a season, Lance Armstrong has won the Tour’de France 6 times after
having cancer, Michael W. Smith has wrote some of the most beautiful Christians
music, J.R.R. Tolkien wrote the “Lord of the Rings” novels, Louis Pastiure
discovered the cure for rabbies, and I’m sure you can think of many more
people. In you personal group of people you
know I’m sure that you know many people that can sing, dance, draw, cook, lead
a group, teach a class, fix a car, and be a friend. We all have many gifts and talents and we
should use these to our benefit and the benefit of others for the praise and glory
of God. God gives us many spiritual and
practical gifts and talents. The gifts
and talents God has given us are meant to be used not only in the church, but
also in every other aspect of our life.
See, I have chosen Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of
the tribe of Judah, and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with skill,
ability and knowledge in all kinds of crafts to make artistic designs for work
in gold, silver, and bronze, to cut and set stones, to work in wood, and to
engage in all kinds of craftsmanship.
(Exodus 31:2-4; NIV)
When I read this it makes me think of those artist who use
the talent that God gave them to mock God with art that is disgusting. An example would be the artist that put dung
on a picture of the Virgin Mary and a Crucifix of Jesus in a bottle of urine. We can use any talent or gift with have for
our personal gain and for the gain of others as long as it is praise worthy to
God.
When I was a Distirct Manager in the jewelry business, I
used my talents of management and leadership to help others. My goal was not only to make money for
myself, but also to help my employees to make more money and do it in away that
was ethical and moral. My wife and I are
now taking our talents of management and leadership and the knowledge of Jesus
and the Bible to help rasie children to be good and productive adults.
There is a famous little story by Russell Conwell called
Acres of Diamonds. In this story he
speaks about how it is good and right for someone to make as much money as they
can. The idea is that someone who has
the talent to start a business and make it grow, will do more to help the
people around him. Conwell writes,
“Money is power, and you ought to be reasonably ambitious to have it! You ought because you can do more good with
it than you could without it. Money
printed your Bibles, money builds your churches, money sends your missionaries,
and money pays your preachers, and you would not have many of them, either, if
you did not pay them.” (Acres of
Diamonds; page 32-33). The person who
creates jobs, so others can feed, clothed, and give shelter to their families,
does a service for the community and God.
This person can use their wealth to give more to charities and to make
the lives of others better. If you take
an honest look at most of the large and small corporations, you will see how
they have been successful in helping others through charities and job creation.
Now there are those in business and government that use
their talents to do the wrong things. We
have all seen stories of companies and government officals doing the unethical
and immoral things, but there are many more that do the right thing
everyday. Conwell writes, “The man who
gets the largest salary can do the most good with the power that is furnished
to him. Of course he can if his spirit
be right to use it for what it is given to him.“ (Acres of Diamonds; page 33).
Whatever your talent or gift is you should use it in a way
that gives glory to God. We should live
our life in a way that is a reflection of what God has given us. We should use are gifts and talents in our
professional, personal, and spiritual life that is in accordance with the plan
God has for us.
Rush Limbaugh has the gifts and talents that have allowed
him to have the most successful radio talk show ever. Now I’m not saying he is a perfect example of
a Christian, because no one is. What he
is an example of is someone who knows who gave him his talents, and he uses his
talents to the best of his ability and he gives the credit to God. We should all strive to do the same in our
lives.
