Day 30. Shaped for Serving God

Day 30. Shaped for Serving God

The secular argument is “Nature or nurture?” To add to the mix are the gifts of the Holy Spirit such that are the fusion of our attributes of direct benefit to the body of Christ. Confusing?

But each of us was given grace according to the measure of Christ’s … gifts to his people.”… to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ…as each part is working properly, promotes the body’s growth in building itself up in love (emphasis added). (Ephesians 4:7-16 excerpts)

Lists in Ephesians, Romans and 1 Corinthians include many gifts but they were never meant to be exhaustive. In fact, the variety of gifts is almost without limit. The one thing that is certain is that the gifts are to build the body of Christ up in love. As Rick Warren indicates, our gifts are to be used for others. Our gifts are about relationships. Our gifts are about love.

All have gifts. All are called to serve in love. Determining those attributes by which we best serve the body of Christ is not always easy. Our capabilities are manifest. Warren notes that we serve best when we are passionate about our task. Have you stepped back to admire those that seem to be a perfect fit for what they do? Bob Costas always comes to mind. He has the gift of gab and the love of sports and has been talking about it professionally since he was a teenager. He’s passionate about what he does. You’ve seen mothers, nurses, doctors, artists, writers who are as passionate and seem a perfect fit with what they do

We serve best when we fit our passions as closely as possible. But how do we know? John Izzo (1) suggests that to be "fulfilled and fruitful" (Warren’s words), we need to be “true to our selves and live with intention” (Izzo's words). Life is what we do every day. Izzo suggests that we need to ask ourselves every day if we are living out “our bliss,” if we are we going to bed with a “good tired,” the kind we feel when we know we’ve had good day? He says we need to examine our lives each day so that we come to know what it means to be true to ourselves. We need to intentional about determining what it is. Have you ever asked the question, "Am I following my heart right now? What would it mean for me to really follow my heart right now?" (Izzo, page 45)

Just because we are capable of something doesn’t mean it’s our call. I’m a good organizer, but I’m always stressed when I’m involved in big tasks requiring those skills. It’s not my bliss. And being true to oneself does not mean that we need not use our other capabilities. We need those skills to cope in the world around us. You might say that we need those to make a living; we use our gifts for ourselves and others to have a life.

My you find peace in truth,

Rick

1 Izzo, John, The Five Secrets You Must Discover Before You Die. (San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler Pulishers, Inc., 2008) page 26