Being God’s Hands and Feet in the World!
An Excerpt from “7 Gifts of the Spirit: Being God’s Hands and Feet in the World” (My Presentation at Church of the Good Shepherd, Covington, Ga. August 25, 2013
“…What I’ve come to understand is that whether we are talking about “love, joy or peace”, or “the ability to speak in tongues, or have the gift of healing”, or “having the gift of teaching or leading”, all these are gifts, deliberately and willingly God-given, through which we partner with God to realize God’s dream for us. God has a dream for this world and he needs us, each one of us to fulfill that dream. We are God’s agents of transformation. God made us wonderfully and fabulously, placing a part of Him, a part of Her, in the deepest parts of our DNA. We are God’s hands and feet in the world; God’s eyes and ears. Without us, God has no eyes, without us God has no ears; without us, God has no arms. God waits upon us and relies on us.”
…And how do I discover my gifts?
1)Pray. Pray that God will guide you to not only identify your gifts but show you how to use your gifts to glorify God. Lord, may your dream fro me become my life.
2) Do a bible study. Begin with Romans 12. See what jumps out at you. Who knows what it will reveal to you.
3)Talk to others. Ask your friends and family what they think your gift is. Perhaps they can see something you may not or that you simply take for granted.
4) Ask yourself what comes easily to you? What makes you come alive? What gets the adrenaline pumping through your soul? What feels right to you? What stirs up the deep well of joy inside you?
5) As yourself how am I using this gift to build up the body of Christ? For the common good? Or, is this about me?
6)Listen. When the spirit nudges you, urging you to live as God wants you to, listen. learn. that’s what being a disciple is anyway, a learner. Realize you may have gifts of which you are presently unaware. be patient and listen.
7) Embrace what you discover! Celebrate it! No one gift is better than another. Each of us is an original!
“What we are is God’s gift to us. What we become is our gift to God.”
