Using our gifts for God

The older I get the better I come to understand what God has gifted me with. I think we don't always realize our gifts because they come naturally to us. For example, I didn't realize that cooking was a gift until I met a person who really couldn't cook.

I have been struggling lately with using the gifts God has given me. I know that I use some of them every day at work and with interactions with other people, but I know I have gifts that can also be used within the church. The reason I struggle with this is because I have been on the 'inside' of the church before and have seen some of the not-so-nice things about it. I have heard the criticisms, and sometimes the judgement. I know people have differing opinions and and that they often feel the need to impress them on other people. People who take on leadership roles in the church are especially open to the criticisms. Because of this I haven't been eager to get involved...at least not just yet...

A couple of weeks ago I was sitting in church listening to our pastor preach when he said something that really struck me. He was talking about some of the challenges of ministry. He shared a story about his first experience as a church pastor and how some of the elders weren't too excited about the length of his hair. Obviously as a woman people aren't going to tell me my hair is too long, but you get the point. There are always things that people will judge as 'not Christian enough' for those who lead/teach/serve in the church. In order to do what God had called him to do and has clearly gifted him to do, he had to focus on God's approval and desires rather than the approval and desires of other Christians.

That may sound obvious, but I've thought I was using my gifts for God my whole life and clearly got sidetracked by other people's opinions. I know I have many gifts and I am so very grateful for them. They enrich my own life and other's lives, but I know God is calling me to use them in a more obvious way.

Now is the time to get back in the game...to risk the criticism and disapproval of others. Because when it comes down to it, it's not the approval or desires of other Christians that is important. It's the desires of God, which is sometimes very different from the desires of other Christians. I challenge you all, as I am challenging myself, to truly use our gifts for God and to maintain focused and His desires and not our own or other people's.