Reading… and Thinking

Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, each of us is to exercise them accordingly: if prophecy, according to the proportion of his faith; if service, in his serving; or he who teaches, in his teaching; or he who exhorts, in his exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.

— Romans 12:6-9 (NASB)

Romans chapter 12 is one of those simply amazing chapters. There is so much exhortation packed into a single chapter, that trying to extract just one short lesson is nearly impossible. For example, each of the first two verses can be (has been—by this writer and others) developed into an entire Sunday morning talk, even an entire Bible class. And the rest of the chapter is just as rich.

Each of the phrases in the passage above can be opened out into an exhortation on a particular kind of service. The gift of inspired prophecy is, for the time being, dormant. (There’s an interesting study—the revival of prophecy in the last days. There are several clues.) But all the rest of these gifts are things we have today. Even “prophecy” has a current-day application, in the sense of declaring the word of the Lord—which we have readily available in the Bible.

Notice: Paul calls these things “gifts”, but what are they? They’re different kinds of work! (And look! There’s another exhortation: work in the Lord is a gift!)

For now, we’ll leave aside the specifics of each of these gifts, and concentrate on the general lesson. There are at least three key points:

1. We each have gifts, given to us by God. No one is without. God has a gift for you, and a role for you in His household.
2. Every gift has a use. They aren’t spiritual knick-knacks, to be put on a shelf. They are abilities, and the intention is that these abilities be put to use. You remember the parable of the man who received a gift from his Lord, and went and buried it to keep it safe. That’s not what the Lord intends! The abilities He gives us are supposed to be actively used.
3. Every use is for the benefit of others. They’re not for building ourselves up, they’re for building up others. But what’s the effect of this? Every gift given to any of you, becomes a gift given to me, if you use it for building me up. So the effect of the gifts is multiplied many times over.

It takes some trial and error to discover what your particular gifts are. And by the way, you aren’t limited to just using one. If your gift is teaching, that doesn’t mean you don’t need to be merciful. We should all be doing many different things in the Lord’s service, as other passages tell us. But there will be one or two things that are particular abilities, which you can exercise for others, and you are expected to exercise for others.

Most of us like trying out new things. Instead of trying new kinds of self-indulgence, how about trying new ways to serve others? This is how you can find your special gifts. You’ll find that this adventure in self-discovery will be far more rewarding than the shiny attractions the world offers.

Probably you’ll find that over time, your special niche will change. That’s perfectly fine. You will be changing, and the Lord will keep giving you new gifts. “To him who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance.” If, that is, you demonstrate that you make good use of the gifts.