Responsibility with our Gifts

1 Peter 4:10 

“As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace” 

When I was in secondary school, one of my teachers gave me a responsibility. She assigned me to look after one of the new students that had just arrived. To make sure he settled in, I was required to look after him during break and lunch times, making sure he knew his way around the school, and ensure he made some friends. My teacher gave me this responsibility because she trusted me, and there was an expectation attached to my character. 

Relating to the idea of Gifts, God works in the same way. Our gifts are attached to a responsibility; they don’t just sit idle: they are supposed to be seen, witnessed and shared. Though the capacity may differ (some are called to share their gifts on a larger scale) one thing stays the same: the glory should always be given to God.  

When looking at the verse, our gifts are meant to “serve one another”. Service is an external kindness not an internal gratification. One of the mistakes I made growing up was only use my gifts to serve me, not others. It’s an obligation to share our gifts, not a recommendation. For many years I’ve kept my gifts captive out of the fear of perception. I cared too much about what people will do or say, rather than caring about the person that gave me the very gift. The verse says, “as each has received a gift”, meaning that God blesses a lot of us with gifts, so it’s our job to recognise them and use them.  

How can we recognise our gifts? If we really understand what gifts are: they are solely given externally, so who best to tell us, then the people receiving it. Outside of asking God, spend the time to also ask the people around you: they may see things you don’t.  

I was fortunate enough to recognise writing as one of my gifts. Through this recognition, I spent hours on end writing stories, poems and anything that inspired me. Though this was good, there was one thing I missed out on. I was completely blinded with the fact that my writing was only ever used for my own pleasures.  

It was only when I was approached last summer and asked a simple but effective question, “do you write for God?”. I was speechless. How could five words silence me? God has a way of making questions a point of reflection, and we can see this throughout the bible. Through this question, I started to recognise more of my gifts and use them for God.  

The same should go for all of us. There is a subtle distinction between a gift from the world and a gift from God. A gift from the world is received: whether it’s an anniversary or birthday present, however a gift of God is given, distributed to people for the purpose of His glory.