Hello everyone! Today, I want to share some thoughts about the spiritual gifts we have as believers in Christ. I love what 1 Corinthians 12:4-7 CEB says “There are different spiritual gifts but the same Spirit; and there are different ministries and the same Lord and there are different activities but the same God who produces all of them in everyone. A demonstration of the  Spirit is given to each person for the common good.” Spiritual gifts are given to believers to bless other believers in the body of Christ. We do not all have the same gifts though, and that can often feel uncomfortable because sometimes we unnecessarily compare ourselves with others. We look at what we can do and compare it with what others can do, and sometimes we minimize the gifts that God has given us because they aren’t like someone else’s. God created us to be different and that includes the manner in which we individually use the gifts God has given us. I have found if I focus on what I am good at and on what God is leading me to do with my own gifts and abilities, I don’t have to feel like I am competing with other believers; I can feel like we are blending well together and doing what God has individually given each of us to do. Romans 12:4-5 NIV  says “Just as each of us has one body with many members and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.”  In Romans Paul compares the body of Christ to the human body by talking about how all the parts of the body are important, how they depend on each other, and how they all play an important part. We don’t all need to be the mouth of the body, some of us can be the hands or the feet. We just need to play the parts that we were born to play and embrace them. Also, one important thing I have learned is God can use your gifts in many different areas, including outside of the four walls of a church building. We don’t have to limit our gifts to only being valuable during church services; they are valuable everywhere we go and in everything we do. “We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man’s gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; if it is encouraging let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern dilligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully” Romans 12: 6-8 NIV. No matter how we are gifted, my prayer is that we will all use our gifts to the glory and honor of God.

Songs that inspire me: “The Gift” by Donald Lawrence and the Company; “God in Me” by Mary Mary Featuring Kierra Sheard; and “Chosen Ones” by Blanca.