Becoming A Romans 12 Christian Part 3 Spiritual Gifts

Romans 12:3-8

For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you. 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. 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 diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.

Today I would like to share some thoughts on using our Spiritual Gifts.

I am going to stay completely away from whether or not certain gifts are meant for the church today and simply focus on the basic idea of serving.

It has been said, that of the people that attend church today only 10 percent carry the burden of work while the rest attend. It is an occurrence I have seen played out in many churches that I have visited.

This is where I think Romans 12 has some excellent wisdom to impart. We are each given a measure of faith by God to perform our duties in the church. The beautiful thing about this is, that because the power comes from God, there is no room for any kind of, “I am serving with more proficiency then you” attitude. We are all just many parts of one body, working together toward common goal.

These gifts, or as the Greek word says,Charismata are given to us by God to meet needs in the body.

There are a lot of workshops offered in churches across the country that say they will tell us our spiritual gift so that we can know beyond a shadow of a doubt where we belong.

While,I do think these affairs can be interesting, I do not think that finding your gift is the point Paul is trying to make here. He lists off different gifts and then seems to say at the end of each gift

“Do it with all your might” One might say, be willing, be able and be doing. That is the key!

Within in the body of Christ we all function as different parts to a whole. Ultimately it doesn't matter if you function as a metaphorical foot or nose What matters is that you are a living part of the whole.What terrible thing if we end up as dead weight... being supported by others but not finding ways to serve the Lord ourselves.

In the end, we must find ways to be useful in the body. Are you good at remembering birthdays, do you have a passion for cooking or do you always have an apt word in any situation ? My husband used Lilly, a three year old girl in our church. She always has a smile on her face and a tender little word for others. We may not stop and realize but, that is an excellent example of a gift.We can make it our goal to never stop looking for ways to serve, and imagine the results. Can you picture whole churches with each member doing his or her best to serve. What a testimony for Christ's eternal kingdom.

I leave you with these thoughts! May we each be made useful to our Lord and Savior.... may we be open to his direction in our lives.

1st Peter 4:10

Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms.