September 13, 2018
God's Gifts Don't Come with a Gift Receipt. And That's a Good Thing!
Romans 12:6–8
Jen Hernandez
Central Truth
God has gifted each of us according to His grace. It is not luck of the draw. He has carefully selected each of our gifts to fit into the body. If we choose to use them as He intended, we will see that His gifts are indeed good and perfect.
Romans 12:6–8
6 Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; 7 if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; 8 the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, 1 12:8 Or gives aid with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.
Dive Deeper | Romans 12:6–8
Everyone at my company has to take a StrengthsFinder assessment and print out a list of our top five strengths to display at our desks. Some people proudly display their strengths, like Strategic, Positivity, or Achiever. When I took the test, three of my top five strengths were Discipline, Analytical, and Responsibility. Seriously? Out of 34 possibilities, I get the three most boring?
I have struggled with feeling boring for most of my life. Growing up, I wasn’t popular, athletic, or cool. I was a good student, and that’s about it. I desperately wanted to be someone different. I spent nearly a decade trying to reinvent myself by traveling the world and partying. This path eventually led to divorce, depression, and destruction.
Romans 12:6 tells us that we are to use the gifts God gives us. Peter expands on this and says, “As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another . . . .” (1 Peter 4:10a). My problem was that I thought the gifts were given to me for me. I wanted to exchange them because they didn’t make me look exciting. But God intends for us to use our gifts for others.
This was a game changer for me. I now see how God’s gifts enable me to serve others. I use the gift of responsibility to be a dependable friend and to honor my commitments at home, work, and church. I use the gift of discipline to create routines like my morning quiet times with God. I have journals filled with God’s wisdom that I use to encourage others. I use the gift of being analytical to meditate on God’s Word and how it connects to real life. I can share what I learn as an application for other believers or to explain God’s truth to non-believers (see 1 Peter 3:15).
God has a no-return policy on His gifts. We can complain, or we can embrace our gifts and use them. When we use His gifts to serve others, we will see that He is the ultimate gift giver. His gifts are good—and perfect!
This month's memory verse
38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
– Romans 8:38–39
Discussion Questions
1. Do you know what your strengths are? God has given us each different spiritual gifts (1 Corinthians 12:4). Here’s a resource to help you determine how God has gifted you: http://www.watermark.org/blog/only-way-discover-your-spiritual-gifts.
2. If you know how God has gifted you, how are you using these gifts to serve others? If you’re looking for opportunities to serve, go to http://www.watermark.org/dallas/connect/serve and jump in!
3. Which gifts do you sometimes wish you could exchange? Here’s a great message to encourage you: http://www.watermark.org/message/3420.
4. If you want to use your gifts but don't feel equipped to do so, check out some of Watermark's equipping classes: http://www.watermark.org/dallas/equipping. My personal favorite is Equipped Disciple: http://www.watermark.org/dallas/ministries/equipped-disciple.