Impact1217

What are your Gifts?
Do you think of yourself as
talented? Possibly not,
but I read this recently:
“Everybody’s good at
something” – and I guess
it’s true. If so, what are your
gifts? It might help to ask several
questions.
Where do our gifts come from?
Frequently a gift is handed down
through the family. Perhaps
your grandmother was an
accomplished painter and now
you feel drawn to a career in art.
The Bible goes even further back
and says that “every good and
perfect gift is from above
coming down from God our
Father”.
When the Israelites
were in the Sinai
desert, God told
Moses to build a
portable ‘church’
or tabernacle, but it
required numerous
craftsmen,
goldsmiths,
carpenters
and weavers.
Where could
they be
found? In
Exodus 31
we read that
God promised
to fill key people
with his Spirit
with “skill, ability and
knowledge to engage in all the
different crafts needed”. And the
job got done. Similarly, the gifting
you have comes from the Lord.
What kinds of gifts are there?
As many as you can think of!
The skills you need for your job,
the running of your family or the
hobbies you enjoy. We’re all
different and God loves the variety
of so many wonderful talents he
has given us.
How do we recognise them? I
remember sitting in a church once
being asked to fill in a survey of
our gifts. I was surprised to find
most of those around me hadn’t
a clue! Many of us miss out in
life because we don’t know what
our gifts are. To find out I suggest
three things. Ask God to show
you, ask a trusted friend for their
advice and ask yourself what you
like doing best of all.
How should we use them? It’s
fine to make a beautiful
garden for sheer
pleasure, but I think
there’s a higher
use of our gifts
and that is for
the benefit of
others. The first
century church
at Corinth
was becoming
proud and selfcentred
about some
‘supernatural’ gifts
they had and Paul had to
remind them that the Holy
Spirit had given them “for
the common good”. In
other words, let’s make
sure we’re using our gifts
to honour God and bless
other people.
How are you developing
yours? I can’t imagine Mo Farah
saying, “I’ve won so many medals,
I’ll not bother doing any more
training now.” You have to keep
exercising your body if you’re
going to win more! It’s the same
with our gifts. If we bury our
talents in the ground, they will
wither away.
So how are you doing?!
Jeremy Thornton
St Chad’s Church, Linden Avenue, Woodseats
Church Office: Linden Avenue, Sheffield S8 0GA
Tel: (0114) 274 5086
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email: office@stchads.org
website: www.stchads.org