6 We have different gifts that are consistent with God’s grace that has been given to us. If your gift is prophecy, you should prophesy in proportion to your faith. 7 If your gift is service, devote yourself to serving. If your gift is teaching, devote yourself to teaching. 8 If your gift is encouragement, devote yourself to encouraging. The one giving should do it with no strings attached. The leader should lead with passion. The one showing mercy should be cheerful.
Reflection
The other day I reposted a photo from Mindful Christianity that I saw on social media. It was of a forest blanketed in snow. Every tree branch, pine needle, rock and all the forest floor was covered in soft, fluffy snow. The sun glimmered across the transformed surfaces and reflected the light into far places. The caption said, “Snow is God’s reminder of what grace was designed to look like. It doesn’t pick and choose where it falls; it covers everything.”
Like the snow, God’s grace falls on each of us and we are redeemed and transformed by that grace. That same grace of God equips each of us through the Holy Spirit with spiritual gifts to serve others. Freely we have been given these gifts, and with humble hearts we freely serve others. We serve others with joy, with no expectation of return, to bless them, showing the love of Christ, with no strings attached.
As the church, we are like an orchestra where we each have a different part to play that is incomplete on its own, and where no single part is greater than another. But when we all play our parts together, our individual parts blend together in a joyous melody that glorifies God. If even one individual part is missing, the symphony sounds incomplete. So it is with us, God created each of us to play a specific part, and gave us each spiritual gifts to use to serve others and make disciples for the glory of God’s Kin(g)-dom.
By Jeneene Reduker
For Pondering & Prayer
Paul names seven spiritual gifts in this passage. Do you identify with any of these seven? You are loved by God and have been freely given spiritual gifts to serve others, both in your church and in the world. Now more than ever, you and your God given spiritual gifts are needed to serve and show Christ’s love to others. Do you know what spiritual gifts have been given to you? If you do, are you serving using your gifts to bless others? If not, talk with your Pastors to discover your spiritual gifts, or go to www.UMC.org “Exploring Your Spiritual Gifts” and read about them and reflect on the questions to help you understand about them. You can even take the “Spiritual Gifts Assessment. Pray and ask God to show you where to use your gifts and then try out serving at church in several areas.
Prayer: Holy and Loving God, we ask for your guidance to discern the spiritual gifts that you have given to us to serve you. Help us to bless others so that they can experience your grace and love. Amen.
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