Discovering your Gifts: Day 4....

Romans 12:4-8 Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, [5] so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. [6] 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. [7] If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; [8] if 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.

Again a reminder that God is diverse in how he distributes his gifts around his people. But more than that it is an encouragement for us to use our gifts and not sit on them. I need to remember that those gifts he has given me are for his use and I am responsible for how I use, misuse or even neglect them. And it is an encouragement for me to work within my gifts. Too often I have struggled to serve God because I have been trying to work in areas that I am not gifted in. It might have been because I felt that I would like to be gifted in that area, or sometimes it is because there is a pressing need for someone to do that job and I have stepped forward to fill a gap, but quickly run out of energy for the task because I was never equipped or impassioned for it in the first place. Paul here seems to be reminding us that we serve God best when we find an area of ministry that we are equipped and passionate for - wouldn't it be incredible if our churches set up their ministry activities to encourage this? Maybe then the effectiveness of the Church would be enhanced.