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Jesus' Pieces

1 Peter 4:10-11 God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another. Do you have the gift of speaking? Then speak as though God himself were speaking through you. Do you have the gift of helping others? Do it with all the strength and energy that God supplies. Then everything you do will bring glory to God through Jesus Christ. All glory and power to him forever and ever! Amen. (NLT)

    We are all designed with unique gifts from God that are to be used to show His glory through us. Every one of us carries our own little piece of Jesus for the world to see. All we have to do with these gifts is receive them and use them to bring Him glory.

    We were not given gifts only to sit on them or use for our own selfish enjoyment. They are meant to glorify Jesus Christ. We get to enjoy the benefits of that, but the gifts themselves are not solely for us. Everything He gives us is for a purpose. It is our job to identify our gifts and find venues to use them. For example, if you feel you have a gift of hospitality, how can you use that to glorify God? Or As 1 Peter illustrates, a gift to speak or help others. If we do not use our gifts, they become obsolete. We are supposed to use them, or fan them into flame, so they grow and we can glorify Jesus on an even larger scale!

2 Timothy 1:6 For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. (NIV)

    Another interpretation of 1 Peter 4:10 says that we are to be "good managers" of our gifts. We have to be wise about what we do with our talents and abilities. How are you using yours? Do you know what they are? Sometimes we can get caught up in comparing ourselves with others and imitating or longing for their gifts. This is the complete wrong way to approach this. We are not made in the image of man, but in the image of God! We strive to be like Him, not others. When we fixate on trying to be like others, we miss out on living in the fullness of Christ in us! We are all important and needed in the body of Christ and we can't waste time and effort to be something we are not because not only will we not be fulfilled, but the body won't be complete without your piece.

1 Corinthians 12:27 All of you together are Christ's body, and each of you is a part of it. (NLT)

     Today pray for Jesus to identify your gifts to you and how He wants you to use them. Let Him guide you through this process. Look to Him and not to those around you and you will find fulfillment. Walking out life in the fullness of our gifts is a beautiful and rewarding thing. Don't miss out on it!

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