Why Should We Care?
Devotional
READ: Ephesians 4:15-16
Discovering my spiritual gifts was the easy part, using them hasn't always been. The church we were part of years ago offered an online gifts assessment, which we then discussed in our Sunday morning small groups. My gifts, I found, were in administration, teaching, and leadership. While the process of identifying my spiritual gifts was a delightful one, applying them has been a different adventure.
As an introvert, administration has been a comfortable gift for me to apply, as it often involves working behind the scenes. However, opportunities to use leadership and teaching have pushed me out of my comfort zone and in front of people, like when writing this devotional.
So, we know that the Bible talks about spiritual gifts, but why should we care about our gifts? The Sunday School answer is because God tells us to, but let’s delve deeper. Ephesians 4:11-16 touches on some gifts and tells us what God wants the church to look like. The picture in Ephesians 4 is of a body with many different parts, each doing what it does best, working together in love.
The part that always stands out to me is the repeated phrase “in love.” It is repeated in 1 Corinthians 13, Galatians 5, Colossians 3, and many other places. Love is not just important, it is essential to God. 1 Corinthians 13 could be summarized as if you don’t have love, it doesn’t matter what you do. It is the vanity of vanities, completely meaningless. Let this love inspire and motivate you as you apply your spiritual gifts.
Who should care about these gifts? Ephesians 4:16 says we need “the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies” (emphasis added). So, for the church to be what God created it to be, we need everyone to participate. Each person's unique spiritual gifts are crucial for the church to function as a unified body.
But why? So, we can “grow up into Him who is the head, that is, Christ.” Or, as Ephesians 4:13 says, “until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.”
Put more simply, God’s goal is for us to become more Christlike. For how long? Until we look like Christ. Even though we know that we can never be perfect on this side of eternity, we also know that by striving, we can improve and draw nearer to God’s goal.
Let’s look at the example of Barnabas. He had the gift of “help” or encouragement; in fact, his name is Joseph, but we know him as “the son of encouragement” or Barnabas (Acts 4:36). He took Saul/Paul under his wing (Acts 9:27) and went with him on his first missionary journey (Acts 13:1).
When Paul refused to take Mark (who had gone home early from a previous missionary journey), Barnabas joined Mark on his journey (Acts 15:39), likely playing an essential role in the life of the man who later wrote the Gospel of Mark. Through Barnabas’s example, we see the impact that one person can have when they apply their spiritual gifts instead of staying on the sidelines.
Discovering my spiritual gifts was the easy part, using them hasn't always been. The church we were part of years ago offered an online gifts assessment, which we then discussed in our Sunday morning small groups. My gifts, I found, were in administration, teaching, and leadership. While the process of identifying my spiritual gifts was a delightful one, applying them has been a different adventure.
As an introvert, administration has been a comfortable gift for me to apply, as it often involves working behind the scenes. However, opportunities to use leadership and teaching have pushed me out of my comfort zone and in front of people, like when writing this devotional.
So, we know that the Bible talks about spiritual gifts, but why should we care about our gifts? The Sunday School answer is because God tells us to, but let’s delve deeper. Ephesians 4:11-16 touches on some gifts and tells us what God wants the church to look like. The picture in Ephesians 4 is of a body with many different parts, each doing what it does best, working together in love.
The part that always stands out to me is the repeated phrase “in love.” It is repeated in 1 Corinthians 13, Galatians 5, Colossians 3, and many other places. Love is not just important, it is essential to God. 1 Corinthians 13 could be summarized as if you don’t have love, it doesn’t matter what you do. It is the vanity of vanities, completely meaningless. Let this love inspire and motivate you as you apply your spiritual gifts.
Who should care about these gifts? Ephesians 4:16 says we need “the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies” (emphasis added). So, for the church to be what God created it to be, we need everyone to participate. Each person's unique spiritual gifts are crucial for the church to function as a unified body.
But why? So, we can “grow up into Him who is the head, that is, Christ.” Or, as Ephesians 4:13 says, “until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.”
Put more simply, God’s goal is for us to become more Christlike. For how long? Until we look like Christ. Even though we know that we can never be perfect on this side of eternity, we also know that by striving, we can improve and draw nearer to God’s goal.
Let’s look at the example of Barnabas. He had the gift of “help” or encouragement; in fact, his name is Joseph, but we know him as “the son of encouragement” or Barnabas (Acts 4:36). He took Saul/Paul under his wing (Acts 9:27) and went with him on his first missionary journey (Acts 13:1).
When Paul refused to take Mark (who had gone home early from a previous missionary journey), Barnabas joined Mark on his journey (Acts 15:39), likely playing an essential role in the life of the man who later wrote the Gospel of Mark. Through Barnabas’s example, we see the impact that one person can have when they apply their spiritual gifts instead of staying on the sidelines.
Personal Reflection
Have you sought out your gifting?If so, are you applying it? If not, what has been your roadblock?
Posted in UR Devotionals
No Comments