Romans 12:6-8
The Voice
The Voice
6 Since our gifts vary depending on the grace poured out on each of us, it is important that we exercise the gifts we have been given. If prophecy is your gift, then speak as a prophet according to your proportion of faith. 7 If service is your gift, then serve well. If teaching is your gift, then teach well. 8 If you have been given a voice of encouragement, then use it often. If giving is your gift, then be generous. If leading, then be eager to get started. If sharing God’s mercy, then be cheerful in sharing it.
I have spent a lot of time worrying about not being able to live up to my own expectations. Recently, I have been dealing with some disappointment and a feeling of being in "no man's land" and unable to be all I think I should be, so I decided to turn to the Word to find some encouragement.
I came across this passage and, of course as usual, the Word spoke to me and is helping me to regain my focus. I may not live up to my own expectations of myself...or anyone else's, however; according to these scriptures it definitely seems clear to me that the focus should be on what I do have to give and whether or not I am willing to utilize the gifts that God did give me.
My suspicion is that most of us look around us and see the gifts that others have and somehow think that we should be able to do the same things, and if not, we are lacking in some way. This would naturally distract one from their own gift! And as a result, one's own gift would suffer from inaction. Another negative result is that our families, circle of friends, and churches would become sterile and stagnant. We need each of these gifts to be operating within us and around us to fully fulfill the plan God has for them in the first place!
Maybe you and I do not completely know what our gifts are, maybe we don't need to know...maybe God created within us a natural instinctive desire to reach out in these individual ways. I'm thinking that less worry about what we can't do and more reaching out in the way God leads us to is really all we need to be concerned with. That "no man's land" feeling could just simply be God's prompting to use the gifts He gave you - and me!
I have spent a lot of time worrying about not being able to live up to my own expectations. Recently, I have been dealing with some disappointment and a feeling of being in "no man's land" and unable to be all I think I should be, so I decided to turn to the Word to find some encouragement.
I came across this passage and, of course as usual, the Word spoke to me and is helping me to regain my focus. I may not live up to my own expectations of myself...or anyone else's, however; according to these scriptures it definitely seems clear to me that the focus should be on what I do have to give and whether or not I am willing to utilize the gifts that God did give me.
My suspicion is that most of us look around us and see the gifts that others have and somehow think that we should be able to do the same things, and if not, we are lacking in some way. This would naturally distract one from their own gift! And as a result, one's own gift would suffer from inaction. Another negative result is that our families, circle of friends, and churches would become sterile and stagnant. We need each of these gifts to be operating within us and around us to fully fulfill the plan God has for them in the first place!
Maybe you and I do not completely know what our gifts are, maybe we don't need to know...maybe God created within us a natural instinctive desire to reach out in these individual ways. I'm thinking that less worry about what we can't do and more reaching out in the way God leads us to is really all we need to be concerned with. That "no man's land" feeling could just simply be God's prompting to use the gifts He gave you - and me!
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