July 2022 | Gifted
“The meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give it away.” – Pablo Picasso
As a leader, your purpose will always be connected to your giftedness. At CDA our God-ordained purpose is to lead people in a growing relationship with Jesus, a task that requires that we serve others through the distinct gifts that God has given us. Some gifts are spiritual in nature like the gift of wisdom, faith, speaking in tongues, and even the gift of healing. There are also natural gifts, like talents, abilities, and resources. No matter who you are everyone is gifted and the primary purpose of every gift is to figure out how to best use them to serve others.
Defining a Gift :
In the book of Corinthians, the word “gift” is the Greek word meaning, “charisma” or “favor”. That means that a gift is a free and unmerited favor that God bestows upon everyone based on His loving character and graciousness. In this case, a gift is a notable capacity, talent, ability, or endowment, whether spiritual or natural, that has been freely given to you by your Heavenly Father.
Gifted :
In our culture, we separate the “gifted” children from the rest, we have special schools for them. But, the truth is that all children are gifted. The same is true of every person regardless of age because God has gifted everyone with a natural and or spiritual ability or resource. The reason for separating the gifted children from the rest is because some discover their gift and excel at it, while others have yet discovered their gifts or are not doing much to develop or use them appropriately. But the truth is that everyone is gifted. Some have more others have less but everyone is gifted; life itself is a gift. As a leader, discovering your individual gifts will bring meaning and purpose to your life, and using them appropriately will fulfill your life.
Appropriately using your Gifts
A gift by nature comes with no strings attached otherwise it would not be a gift. The same is true with God; His gifts both spiritual and natural come with no strings attached. So, you get to use yours for any reason you choose to. But, God’s gifts do come with a specific purpose. A purpose that you can choose to fulfill or ignore. And, the purpose of every gift is to develop and use them to manifest God’s grace through you to others.
Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. – 1 Peter 4:10 NIV
Your Gift Is Not For You
There’s a simple but often times overlooked principle in the Bible, that everything God gives us is supposed to be used to benefit others. Your gift is actually not for you. And, since life itself is a gift from God, your life is not for you. Your life and everything you have is supposed to be to serve others. That the main reason you’ve been gifted is actually not for your benefit but rather to benefit others. This principle is so prevalent in the Bible that the Apostle Paul teaches that even every word that we speak should benefit others and not ourselves. Jesus put it this way, “Freely you have received; freely give.”
As a leader, you will not get very far if you don’t develop and learn how to appropriately use the gifts God has given you. To sum it up, God has gifted everyone for a specific purpose. All gifts are given for the benefit of others. Therefore, your gift should in all ways manifest God’s grace in its various forms.