“Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.”
1 Peter 4:10
My love language is gifts. I often feel like that’s not the “acceptable” answer because it makes me sound a bit shallow. But the truth is, when someone buys me a gift, I feel so loved and seen. It shows me that this person cares about me so much that they would spend time thinking of a gift to get me, that they would go out and get said gift, and that they would spend their money on something for me.
To me, every gift is special. But when someone really spends money on a gift for me, it carries a lot of weight. It cost them something to get that gift for me when they would receive nothing in return.
As believers in Christ, we have all been given many gifts. First and foremost, we have the gift of salvation. We also enjoy the gift of the Holy Spirit living in us every day, and God continues to give us blessings by His grace alone. All these gifts were incredibly costly: Jesus died so that He could graciously pour out these gifts to us.
Furthermore, as we grow in our faith, we will become more aware of the specific gifts God has given each of us. He has blessed us with spiritual gifts and talents that He wants us to use for His kingdom. While these gifts take time to develop and fully understand, they have been given to us to bless and build up the church.
Many passages of Scripture describe the different gifts we have been given as believers in Christ. No matter what our gifts are, we did nothing to earn them. Jesus paid the ultimate price for our salvation, and because of that, we are blessed with additional gifts, such as teaching, compassion, discernment, and wisdom.
But these incredible gifts are not meant for us to bury. We are meant to use our gifts to bless the church and to advance God’s kingdom. Our gifts are not only for ourselves. We have all been given unique gifts, gifts that are meant to work together to build and encourage the church.
We’ve spent the past few months focusing on the truth of God’s character and its power to transform our lives. Now, as we continue to share this truth with others, especially as we step into a season of gift-giving, we have a unique opportunity to gift it. God’s character is displayed through His people by the way we love and serve one another. What a privilege it is to use our God-given gifts to bless His church. And beyond that, God will use our gifts to display His love and grace to a world that does not know Him!
As we change gears and head into Advent, a season when we are often focused on our tasks, let’s continue to meditate on the truth of God’s character. Let’s work together as the body of Christ to use the gifts God has given us to be a gift and a blessing to others!