Gifted By God

GIFTED BY GOD

a prayer to open

Here I am, Lord. Remind me who I am.

I am loved. I am known. I belong to you.

There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism,

one God and Father of all,

who is over all, in all, and living through all.

However, he has given each one of us a special gift through the generosity of Christ. That is why the Scriptures say,

“When he ascended to the heights,

he led a crowd of captives

and gave gifts to his people.”

Notice that it says “he ascended.” This clearly means that Christ also descended to our lowly world. And the same one who descended is the one who ascended higher than all the heavens, so that he might fill the entire universe with himself.

Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ. This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ.

Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won’t be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth. Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church. He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.

God has given us each a special gift so we can help others grow to be more like Christ, but we often think of certain gifts as more important. For example, we see the preacher teaching the crowds and it’s hard not to think that a teaching gift holds a higher position on the gifts hierarchy than the gifts we have. But Paul frequently made clear that every gift matters (see Romans 12:4-8; 1 Corinthians 12). Without every gift, the body of Christ does not work, is not healthy, and fails to grow. And it’s not just a select few who have received gifts; every follower of Jesus has been given special gifts that can help others grow to be more like Christ, full of love.

• What special gifts has God given you through the generosity of Christ? In a spirit of gratitude (as opposed to shame, guilt, or comparison with others), review the past year and the ways you have used your gifts to help others grow in Christlikeness. Whose life has God touched or transformed through you?
• In your current season of life, how is God inviting you to use the gifts he has given you? What resistance or reservations do you feel about this?
• Take a moment to quiet yourself in God’s loving presence. Ask him to open your eyes and heart to the ways he wants you to live more fully into the truth that he has blessed you with special gifts to help others grow in Christlikeness. What did he bring to mind?

Father, thank you for the special gifts you have given me to use to help others grow in Christlikeness. Forgive me for the times I have diminished my gifts or deemed them to be insignificant or unhelpful. Grow my gratitude and appreciation for the way you’ve made me, and forgive me for degrading the gifts of others whether in thought, word, or action. I want to be someone who lifts up others, encourages them to grow in love, and allows them to see how much you cherish them. Open my eyes to see where to use what you’ve so generously given me. Amen.