“Jesus works in community. For that reason, you find no personal pronouns in the earliest description of the church.”- Max Lucado
Each of us purposely unique, specially designed with certain gifts and abilities to serve, encourage and strengthen the body of Christ, our community…the church.
The church is not a solo act, but rather a beautiful orchestra.
Each one of us needs to play our music with the gifts, skills, talents that God designed us to play.
TOGETHER…we can play the most majestic of songs….but only when we are working together, focused on our “conductor” as He directs our song.
1. God is the giver of our gifts and the purpose of our gifts is to build up the church…not individuals. We need to realize all gifts and abilities come from God. There is no reason to “think of ourselves more highly than we ought.” In Romans 12:3 Paul is not saying we need to have poor self-esteem, but rather that our identity should not be in who we are or what we can do, but in Christ alone.
2. God has gifted each of us with certain gifts to help strengthen the church. We are not called to be sideline spectators, instead we are to use the gifts God has given us to build up His church.
“…the main thing in being the church is every member growing in the ability to minister a unique grace to others in the body and a unique witness to those outside and a unique tribute to God in heaven.”- John Piper
3. Do what you do best…God has uniquely gifted YOU to play a special part in His story, in His orchestra. Together, we can make beautiful music.
4. Use our gifts for God’s glory…not our own. When we live our lives for God’s glory, God takes what He has done through us and ripples it throughout the next generations.
5. Be thankful. Instead of wishing God had given you a certain gift, be thankful for the spiritual gifts He has given you and use them to the best of your ability to bring glory to God.
“I believe God intends to create a perfect a people for himself not ready made as immediately perfected individuals; rather he intends to create and perfect a people for himself by having them use their gifts toward each other so that they join God in the process of helping each other grow in knowledge and faith and hope and love.”- John Piper
6. Let’s do this together…
“God works through different men/women in different ways, but it is the same God who achieves his purposes through them all” (1 Cor.12:6). God uses all types to type his message. Logical thinkers. Emotional worshippers. Dynamic leaders. Docile followers.
The visionaries who lead, the studious who ponder, the generous who pay the bills. Action-packed verbs. Rock-solid nouns. Enigmatic question marks. Alone, we are meaningless symbols on a page. But collectively, we inspire.
“All of you together are Christ’s body, and each of you is a separate and necessary part of it” (1Cor 12:27).- Max Lucado
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