daily java

Daily Java: For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you. Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a 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; 8if 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 12:3-7)

One of the hardest things to do for some is to realize the gifts God gave them.

The big ones are easy. But so many figure that if you are not a preacher or a singer or a leader in some way, a teacher, a writer – you are nothing and have no talent or gift.

The problem is, they are wrong. Gifts are not measured in people ways, but in divine ways.

The apostle Paul says here that there are different gifts, and they are according to how God wants to give them to us. He is the one who gives them, so they are measured by his measure.

A woman came up to me after a sermon one Sunday morning in which I had talked about talents, using the parable of the talents in Matthew 25. Her comment: well, I don’t seem to have any talents.

Here was a woman who was just about put under by arthritis in her feet. Yet she was unerringly cheerful. She always had a good thing to say, a word of encouragement for everyone, a smile. I said, no! You have a tremendous talent. After all, how many people in church are always cheerful and encouraging. If nothing else, there are too many people whose “gift” is to bring people down, to gripe, to complain about everything. That was her gift: the gift of encouragement.

My wife has that gift of cheerfulness. Even though she is in pain 24/7, she still is so encouraging, so cheerful.

The gifts are all the way across the spectrum. There is prophesying – that would be preaching. There is serving – somebody has to serve. I am trying my hardest to develop that gift in my own life. there is teaching – another “big” one. There is encouraging – without encouragement, people wither and die. There is giving – some just have the talent of knowing when someone needs something. There is leadership, and, no less important, there is showing mercy. Those are the people you go to when you just need advice and help.

All of these are gifts, and God has placed them all where he wants them. Which means if we do not use it, we are not in his will.

Just like your body has all kinds of different parts all with different jobs, we are like that in the church.

Are you using your gift?