The gift was memorable if not usable. A church I served gave food to the pastor each fall. It was our first year at the church.
One unforgettable gift was a box of Jello with an expiration date celebrating its thirteenth birthday! Nothing was too good for their pastor!
We were afraid to use it! We certainly didn’t want to pass it on to someone else. We assigned it to the garbage can.
God doesn’t deliver such gifts. He gives believers at least one diamond camouflaged as special abilities to serve others. Nothing is cheap or useless about them.
Because of that, every believer is a ten somewhere. Discovering our diamonds is vital because we fulfill God’s purpose through them.
God blesses some people with more natural abilities than others. The parable of the three servants illustrates that. Three people receive five bags of silver, two bags, and one bag, respectively. The amount they received was proportional to their abilities (Matthew 25:14–30 NLT).
Their master expected a return on his investment from all of them. The first two servants doubled what they were given and returned it to their master.
The third servant returned the one bag of silver he received but nothing additional. The master commended as good and faithful only the first two servants (Matthew 25: 21, 23). He harshly judged the third (verse 30).
God requires more from those with more natural abilities (Luke 12:48). He expects us to use our natural and spiritual gifts to serve and glorify Him. He holds us accountable for doing that.
Normally, we use our natural abilities to make a living. If we’re strong, we might work in the construction field. If we’re naturally outgoing, we might excel at sales. If we’re artistic, we might work in graphic design.
Most people occasionally use their natural abilities to help others. Strong people help friends move a few times a year. Outgoing people make good church greeters. Artistic people help friends decorate their homes now and then.
They’re like mechanical pencils. Some of the leads in the pencils write messages that benefit others, but most benefit them.
God expects believers to use natural and spiritual gifts differently than those who aren’t His children. We are like mechanical pencils set apart to write only messages that bless others.
We’re like the small plastic cups in my desk drawer. I use them only to serve communion to people who can no longer attend church services. They have a holy purpose.
Using them to serve communion gives me joy, but that isn’t why my local church gives them to me. They give them to me to give to others, not to benefit me.
If you are a believer, I don’t have to know you to know you are a ten somewhere. “God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another” (1 Peter 4:10 NLT). That is your purpose. #freediscipleshipresources #freeevangelismresources #freechristianleadershipresources
See free spiritual growth resources for Christians at https://www.christiangrowthresources.com
God has empowered me to write “His Power for Your Weakness—260 Steps Toward Spiritual Strength.” It’s a free evangelistic, devotional, and discipleship eBook. Pastors have used it in Malawi, Mozambique, and Zambia to lead more than 2,400 people to Christ and teach the basics of Christianity to 5,445 people. I invite you to check it out. https://www.christiangrowthresources.com/his-power-for-your-weakness
You can find this blog at https://www.christiangrowthresources.com/post/spiritual-gifts-make-every-believer-is-ten-somewhere
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