Grace, Giving & Growing

Think about God as the ultimate investor, who is giving out gifts and talents like a divine venture capitalist. Everybody gets a gift according to their abilities; some get five, some two, and some just one—but here’s the catch: He definitely wants a return! Not because He’s broke or he needs it because heaven’s treasury is doing just fine, but because He wants to see if you can handle more. The real question is—what are you doing with what He gave you?

What Has God Given You?

Instead of concluding that you do not have any gifts or before you say that God didn’t exactly drop a briefcase of cash in my lap,  how about you think of the things He actually did give you. It could be a killer voice, a heart that yearns to help people, a mind that can solve problems, or hands that can create beauty. God has definitely deposited something in you—and this is your wake up call—it’s not meant to stay buried!

Think of it this way: if God has given you a talent, no matter how insignificant you might think it is; it could be the gift of speaking but instead, you’re out here whispering through life, or you can write a best-time seller but you keep saying, “Maybe next year”, you might just be that one-talent guy who buried his blessing. Ooops! Yup I said it

How to Identify Your Gifts

You might be wondering how can you know exactly what your "thing" is but you don’t need a divine scroll to drop from heaven to help you figure out your gifts though, that would be pretty cool. When you look deeply around you, the little things point to the direction of what your gifts are. You can identify them by picking up on:

• What comes naturally to you but seems hard for others?

• What do people always compliment you on?

• What makes you feel alive when you’re doing it?

• What problems do you feel deeply called to solve?

And if you're still unsure or stuck, then ask God for clarification. God didn’t give you these gifts to keep them a mystery or send you on a scavenger hunt! Seek Him in prayer, meditate in His presence, pay attention to opportunities around you, and don’t be afraid to try new things.

Benefits of Using Your Gifts Well

The beautiful thing about using your gift is that you are not the only one that would enjoy the results; you will be impacting people around you; blessing lives. A few things happens when you actually start using what God gave you?

✅ You grow – The more you use your gifts, the better you become. When you use your gifts, you create avenue to improve yourself; you don't know how much of yourself you get to learn when you are in the business of your father.

✅ You bless others – Your gift isn’t just about you; someone is waiting to be impacted by what’s inside you. When you use what God has deposited in you, you get the chance to actually impact the life of other people.

✅ You glorify God – Remember, the goal isn’t just self-improvement, it’s God-improvement making Him known through what you do. Using what God has given you means that you are showcasing His greatness to the world.

✅ God gives you more – When you show God what you can do with the little that He gave you, you show Him that you are capable and then He gives you so much more.

The Disadvantages of Not Using Your Gifts

As much as God gives you more when you use what He's given you, He can also take away what He's given you if you are not using it. In the same light of acquiring a skill and not using it, it starts to fade the less you use it; it works the same way with God's given gift and talent. Think about the guy from the parable of the talent; the one who buried his talent like a squirrel hiding nuts from the apocalypse; he lost the one . When you have a gift and you do not use it, there are consequences which can lead to:

– What you don’t use, you lose. That applies to muscles, skills, and spiritual gifts.

 – Someone’s breakthrough might be tied to your obedience. Imagine holding onto an experience that was supposed to bless someone and you refuse to share your experience. You will have denied someone the opportunity of understanding they are not alone and God has a plan if you do not use your gifts and talents to bless and inspire

– God is in the business of shifting resources to faithful hands. Which means if you do not use the resources He has given you, He will transfer it to someone who will.

Are You Burying or Multiplying?

At the end of the day, we all have two choices: bury or multiply. God isn’t looking for perfection, just faithfulness. Start with what you have, where you are, and trust Him to bring the increase.

So, bestie, what’s in your hands? Are you going to let fear, doubt, or procrastination rob you of your God-given greatness? Or are you going to work your gifts like the faithful servant who got the ‘Well done’?

Either way, remember: Heaven has a strict ‘no lazy servant’ policy!