Peter wrote these words to believers in Jesus. He shared with them that when a person chose to follow the Savior, God didn’t just leave them out there struggling to follow Him. He has a unique and amazing purpose for every believer, and provides all we need in order to fulfill that purpose.
God has a vast storehouse (Himself) of those spiritual talents and divine endowments. Imagine a warehouse the size of all the continents put together and then some! There is no end to these spiritual gifts He has for us.
For example, God gave Mother Theresa the purpose of helping those outcasts struggling with leprosy and other debilitating diseases. He provided her gifts of mercy and discernment. She was able to walk among the sick and helpless with His Spirit because He worked through her, giving her compassion and empathy. He also gave her the supernatural ability to understand motives and truth.
God designed you for a purpose, too, and it’s not just go to work, make money, have a family, retire, and die. Nope. That’s not your purpose. Your purpose fits in the overall purpose of the Church: to glorify God and build His kingdom.
The specifics, you have to determine. God will reveal those to you if you seek Him with all you are.
If the purpose you “see” doesn’t scare you a bit, keep looking, you haven’t found it yet. It will not be you-sized. It will be God-sized—something you simply can’t do on your own.
If He has called you to share Him with others, look closely, you’ve likely been given the gift of evangelism. He will use you to bring many to salvation.
If He has called you to preach and proclaim Him to others, you’ll discover that you’ve been given His gift of prophecy, or proclaimer of Truth.
If He has called you to teach others, to lead them in learning Truth about Him and life, you’ve most likely been gifted with the spiritual ability to teach.
This is not even a beginning of the many gifts He gives.
These gifts are not things you can choose, earn, or learn. You’ll never go to a college or seminary that will cause you to be able to use this gift or that. That’s the Holy Spirit’s job. Utilizing these gifts comes from a deep, abiding relationship with the Savior.
What’s your gift from God? I’m not talking about the fruit of the Spirit, I’m talking about the gifts like prophecy, serving, encouraging, mercy, leadership, and such. When you’re operating in those gifts, you will be amazed at the effectiveness of your efforts. It will be as though you said or did something so minor, yet it resulted in amazing ways—and that’s true. It will be easy on your part because the Spirit is the One working, and the return will be incredible because the Spirit is the One working.
Today is an excellent day to learn what your spiritual gifts are and to seek God in how He wants you to use them. Prepare to be astounded at all He has in store for you. It may be an incredible journey like Billy Graham’s and Mother Theresa’s, or it may be simple and wonderful like Billy’s mother’s, teaching and leading a generation of Christ-followers who live His power daily.
Coffee, Bible, Journal.
P.S. If you’d like to learn more about what spiritual gifts are, click here.
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