Open Your Gifts Already!

Can you imagine your children rushing to the Christmas tree on Christmas morning, oohiing and aahing over the gifts and then rushing out to play without opening any of them?  They repeat this process for several days until time for the tree to come down, and the gifts wind up in a closet, never having been opened.  That is essentially what many Christians have done regarding their Spiritual Gifts.  They may have read about Spiritual gifts in Romans and I Corinthians and Ephesians, but it has not dawned on them that they have the responsibility for discovering, unwrapping, developing and using their specific gifts for the glory of God and His Kingdom.  Churches suffer because people are sitting in the pews, having never unwrapped the gifts that God has actually given to the church through the members.  Often you'll hear someone ask, "Why can't we get someone to do..."  It never registers that the "someone" could well be them.

My contention is that if a church has a need, there is someone in the congregation who is gifted to meet that need.  In rare cases the person may not yet be a member of the church, but should be reached and prayed into the membership in order to meet the need.

As you read this, let me ask, do you know what your Spiritual gifts are?  Have you unwrapped them and started developing them?  Are you looking for opportunities to use your gift in the work of the church? You'll never be fulfilled as a Christian until you do.