Developing the Gift Within You
EPHESIANS 4:16 NLT
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.
ROMANS 12:3-8 NLT
Because of the privilege and authority God has given me, I give each
of you this warning: Don’t think you are better than you really are. Be
honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the
faith God has given us. Just as our bodies have many parts and each
part has a special function, so it is with Christ’s body. We are many
parts of one body, and we all belong to each other. In his grace, God
has given us DIFFERENT GIFTS for doing certain things well. So if
God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out with as much
faith as God has given you. If your gift is serving others, serve them
well. If you are a teacher, teach well. If your gift is to encourage
others, be encouraging. If it is giving, give generously. If God has
given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if
you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly.
The Process of Developing Your Gifts:
- Approach your gifts with humility.
ROMANS 12:3 NLT
Don’t think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your
evaluation of yourselves … - Ask God to speak to you about your gifts.
ROMANS 12:6 NLT
In His grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things
well. - Learn to navigate the obstacles to your gifts.
3 Primary Reasons People Fail to Develop Their Gifts:
A. SELFISHNESS: concerned excessively or exclusively with oneself
in disregard to others
B. NEGLECT: Do not neglect the gift that is in you … — 1 Timothy
4:14a NKJV
C. UNWORTHINESS: feelings of inadequacy and that you don’t have
anything to offer; perhaps the greatest obstacle of all
1 CORINTHIANS 1:26-28 NIV
Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called.
Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were
influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish
things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of
the world to shame the strong. God chose the lowly things of this
world and the despised things— and the things that are not—to nullify
the things that are … - Understand the law of “use.”
MARK 4:24-25 NIV
“Consider carefully what you hear,” he continued. “WITH THE
MEASURE YOU USE, it will be measured to you—and even more.
Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what
they have will be taken from them.”
“Your success is not determined by what you have but by what you
do with what you have.”
“If you use what you have, you double your ability and productivity. If
you don’t use it, you lose it.” - Start thinking outside the box.