What are you doing to sharpen your gift(s)?
This question is so important, there content and encouragement is presented in three ways…
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What are you doing to sharpen your gift(s)?
This thought/question came to mind to me, last week. Tuesday through Friday night I was in Kansas.
Let me first say – living in Louisiana…I forget what winter feels like. It was so cold in Kansas!
It was super cold to me but it worked out because I was in the warm company of 12 other speakers and teachers.
People from all over the nation.
Some were male. Some were female.
Some were older than me. Some were younger than me.
We all talked about different topics. We hit different niche areas when we speak and teach.
But the commonality that we had is everyone there truly felt that speaking and teaching was a calling and a gift that they had been granted and it was their responsibility to be here developing and honing their gifts. As such, we were all investing days – and dollars to do that.
First, let me share about the training course.
It was amazing. We identified elements of effective speaking and teaching. We unpack those, but instead of just learning about it from lectures and activities, we spent a good bit of time demonstrating it and practicing it. Each skill practice received abundant feedback. There was sharing about, what we did well and what we can do better next time. Then, it went a step further with specific planning of when, where, how we will employ these effective skills we were developing, when we would put them in place to up-level our speaking in teaching. Because we were all there to learn better so that we can do better with what God gave us to do.
I’m a lifelong learner. So this kind of thing was like cloud nine for me.
And I seek out these kinds of opportunities a couple of times a year because – let’s be honest; I enjoy them.
But beyond that, I feel in my soul, not only feel, I know in my soul that God gifted and called to me to speak and teach to uplift others. That’s a calling that is on my life, and I feel it is my duty responsibility, and it’s actually a joy for me to develop that so that I can do what God called me to do as effectively as I possibly can.
Y’all. When God gives us a calling, He also gives us the equipping.
Equipping matches the call.
But here’s the thing. Equipping is not often passive.
We have to do our part.
So I asked you today, what is the gift that God has given you to impact the kingdom, to build up the kingdom?
What has He given you?
He didn’t give you that gift for you to sit on and do nothing.
He did not give you that gift to stagnate in by doing the same thing over and over and over.
He gave you that gift with the expectation that you will sharpen it.
That you will nurture it.
That you will steward it well.
That you will develop it because you know what?
There are people that need what God has gifted you to do.
So if you are active, nurturing and developing what God has gifted you to do, praise God. Go, head! Keep it up. Pray for me, and I’ll pray for you.
And if you can say, with all honesty, ‘I really have not been doing that’. Praise God anyway! Praise Him for giving you that gift and then – put some action behind that praise.
Start opening your eyes to opportunities that are around you to develop what God has put in you – and get to it!
You can do it because God’s got you.
Take care. God bless, be well.