What Do You Want to Do? || Thought Provokers || Part 5

I am wrapping up tax season and am behind schedule. Instead of our regularly scheduled Manna for the Minds, enjoy an old youth series I created: “Thought Provokers”

Have you ever thought about what you wanted to do in life? Are you feeling pressured to have that answer ASAP? Let’s slow down this mindset and think about God’s calling on our lives. I don’t talk about it all that much because it’s a little tricky. I need to throw a lot of church words at you, but we’re doing it today.

1 Peter 4:10-11 says: “Each of you received a spiritual gift. God has shown you his grace in giving you different gifts. And you are like servants who are responsible for using God’s gifts. So be good servants and use your gifts to serve each other. Anyone who speaks should speak words from God. The person who serves should serve with the strength that God gives. You should do these things so that in everything God will be praised through Jesus Christ. Power and glory belong to him forever and ever. Amen.”

What is a Gift?

The Greek word for “gift” is “charisma,” meaning gift of grace or a free gift. I know that probably doesn’t help explain what this gift is. Let me share with you some extra scripture to help explain it more.

Romans 1:11: I want very much to see you, to give you some spiritual gift to make you strong.

1 Corinthians 12:4: There are different kinds of gifts; but they are all from the same Spirit.

1 Timothy 4:14: Remember to use the gift that you have. That gift was given to you through a prophecy when the groups of elders laid their hand on you.

Gifts are something that God gives us via the Holy Spirit that helps us along our Christian journey. The gifts are typically used in a way that honors God and helps others by serving, healing, etc. These are abilities that you think you don’t have, but you do. You just might not believe in yourself that you can accomplish the tasks that God wants you to accomplish since you have that power. Understand?

How Do I Serve?

The Greek word for “serve” is “diakoneo,” which means to care for others’ needs as the Lord guides in an active, practical way. Think of a time when you looked around your community and thought: “There are people in need. How can I help?” That’s when your diakoneo senses are tingling. People may be starving, so you start a campaign with some friends to help raise funds or gather food for a local food pantry. Your community has homeless people who are cold, so you work with a local church to do a clothing drive or jacket collection. Doing these things fulfills the diakoneo that comes with the spiritual gifts God gives us.

Peter gives us examples of using our calling; speaking and serving. If you’re passionate about standing up for people and their rights and giving a voice for the voiceless, you may have a speaking calling. If you’re passionate about getting involved at schools to help out students and teachers, you may have a servanthood calling. There are many spiritual gifts and many more assessments you can do to see what gifts you may have and what works for you. Check them out. Invite God into the process of assessing what spiritual gifts you are blessed with. Ask God to see where you can put your gifts to the test. That’s how you can answer the call. Your gifts aren’t just for personal ministry – they’re God’s empowerment for dismantling injustice, whether through our prophetic speech that names oppression or something that meets concrete needs.