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God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another. 1 Peter 4:10 (NLT)

There are a couple of different places in the New Testament where we read of spiritual gifts. In 1 Corinthians 12, Paul mentions wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing, miracles, prophecy, discernment, tongues, and interpretation. In Romans 12 we read about serving, teaching, exhorting, leadership, and acts of mercy. Peter talks about speaking gifts and serving gifts, but all of them come from the same Spirit, who gives to each of us as He wills. All are needed – all are necessary – for ‘when each part is working properly, [it] makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love’ (Ephesians 4:16). When we use our spiritual gifts well, in service to one another, the church grows in love.

The gift or gifts that we have been given are not to lie idle, they are to be used for the glory of God and for the good of the church. In his book, The Familiar Stranger, Tyler Stanton says, “It’s easy to neglect to seek out the gifts of the Spirit and fail to develop a set of habits and mindset that can foster openness and availability to his presence, his power, and his gifts.”

The question we need to ask is, are we being generous with the gift we have been given? Just because we possess it doesn’t always mean that we are making it available to whoever may need it – to those it could help. God has given these gifts/talents/abilities to us in good faith, and so, it is our responsibility to be good stewards and faithful servants.

What a privilege it is for us to be entrusted with a gift from God. Honour Him by using it generously.