11/10/07 - Life Journal - Spiritual Gifts

Only as the Lord has assigned to each , as God has called each, in this manner let him walk.
1 Corinthians 7:17

You can look at this verse in two ways; First, that each person has a talent or spiritual gifting place upon him by God and we commit a major injustice towards Him when we squander theses talents. Be it in a ministry at church or in our everyday life and workplace. Second, sometimes because of resources we can be placed in an area we are uncomfortable with. Every effort should be made to avoid this. It makes for unhappy volunteers and disgruntled employees. My pastor in Orlando, David Baxter, called this a passion killer.

We each know our talents and giftings and should strive to put these to use whenever we can. I've been blessed with the gift of music and the love of knowledge. Being involved in the worship ministry is my gifting and it is keeping me passionate. My love of learning is something I have to tend to all the time. If I'm not learning something new, whether at work or elsewhere I virtually go crazy. I get bored and tortured with feelings of discontent which lead to depression. This is something I have to deal with myself. As far as my knowledge leading to teaching, that's something we'll have to wait and see. I'm comfortable in this media (blogging) sharing insights but vocalizing this in a classroom or pulpit forum scares the crap out of me. There's probably a reason I like drumming. I'm hidden behind the drums and in the case of Sunday mornings I have the plexi sound shield in front of me. I know there's something to stepping out of my comfort zone but also to following what God has called me to do.

Lord I thank you for the gifts you have bestowed upon me, I pray that I will use them to their fullest to glorify Your name.