Different Gifts

I have a verse here from 1st Corinthians and another from Ephesians that talks about the different gifts we are given.  Take a look:

1 Corinthians 12:4-11(NKJV)

There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. 

There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord. 

And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all. 

But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all: 

for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit, 

to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit, 

to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. 

But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills.

Ephesians 4:11-16(NKJV)

And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 

for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 

till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 

that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 

but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ—

from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.

God has given us all talents and roles to play in His plan for our lives.  What is so exciting about our walk with God is that if you will submit and trust Him, He will help you develop talents that you never knew you had, or in some cases even wanted.  Here is what I am talking about.

I have often said that Church is not a spectator sport.  You need to be involved.  The easiest way to be involved is to volunteer.  I have found that this also gives you one of the most direct ways that God can help you develop new gifts, gifts buried deep inside you that you didn't even know were there.

There have been many times in my life where God has called me to do something.  I have always believed that when God calls you should ANSWER THE CALL.  And the more uncomfortable the call makes you, the more important it is to answer it. 

Folks, you know what I mean here.  When you are sitting in church and they are looking for volunteers and you can feel the urging of the Holy Spirit to volunteer but you resist because it is doing something that you aren't really comfortable with.  You get that queasy feeling in  your stomach just thinking about volunteering because it makes you so uncomfortable

It doesn't even have to be in church.  Sometimes God calls us to make changes and do uncomfortable new things in our private lives.  Again, my belief is that the more uncomfortable the call the more important it is to answer the call.  Why?

Because God has identified an area of your life He would like to help you develop a gift or talent in.  It is real easy to answer the call to do something for God that comes naturally and is easy, where is the growth in that?  It's when we answer God's call to do something uncomfortable that we get real growth.  And the cool thing I have found is that God always finds ways to take those new skills you learned for Him and use those skills in ways you never expected.

Which brings me back to this blog.  Never in my wildest dreams did I ever imagine that writing might be a gift that I had.  In high school I chose all of my English classes by one criteria.  If it involved grammar and writing I didn't take it.  If it involved reading, Western Lit, English Lit, whatever, I took it. 

So when God led me to start writing in my professional life 2 years ago, never in my wildest dreams did I ever imagine I would be led by God to begin writing a Christian Blog.  God is so cool!

I don't think I am alone in experiencing this principal so please share with us how God has used a time in your life to help you develop new gifts.