10 And serve each other according to the gift each person has received, as good managers of God’s diverse gifts. 11 Whoever speaks should do so as those who speak God’s word. Whoever serves should do so from the strength that God furnishes. Do this so that in everything God may be honored through Jesus Christ. To him be honor and power forever and always. Amen.
Reflection
To be the manager of something is different than being the one who created it. The person who manages a band doesn’t write the music. If you manage a baseball team, you aren’t the one out hitting those 90 mph fastballs.
There’s a fundamental truth that we have to wrestle with if we want to have a godly perspective on our stuff: and that’s the simple fact that we’re just managers. We’re not makers.
The world reinforces the illusion that we are makers: I made that money in my bank account. But if you were to take just one step back, what you might see is this: God gave you the gifts, talents and abilities to do the thing that made you the money. You invested your time, energy, and education to hone those skills, of course. The spark, however, did not come from you. That was entirely God’s doing. God gave you life and breath, passion and intelligence.
Until and unless we can recognize that truth – until and unless we understand ourselves as managers of God’s gifts rather than the owners and originators of them – we will not learn the fundamental lesson of spirituality. That lesson is that it’s all a gift. We don’t own anything, really. Every thing we touch is only ours to use for a time. So all we can do is give thanks and manage our blessings in a way that honors the One who is the Maker of ALL things – God.
by Joe Monahan
For Pondering & Prayer
How does it feel to you to consider this idea that you don’t own anything? Is it unbelievable? Disturbing? Liberating?
God, today we thank you for the breath in our lungs and the thoughts in our heads. We thank you for the gifts of life, which we know comes from you, and of our substance, which we so often want to claim as our own. Remind us that all we have and all we are is from you. Amen.
Comments are closed.