Lord, You have created and provided me
with abilities, strengths and gifts.
Help me embrace and apply
those gifts to fulfill Your purpose.
I don’t want to abuse, neglect, or waste
the gifts You have entrusted to me.
Series: “Eyes to See and Ears to Hear”
I’ve been reading a book recently that has challenged me to evaluate the motive behind everything I do. It comes down to the heart of the matter… My heart. Am I doing the things I do to serve me, or to serve God and others? Am I exalting my ego, my pride, my wants, my goals; or am I exalting Him?
At a deeper level, I’ve been examining the gifts He has bestowed upon me. We all have strengths and weaknesses. He has given each of us unique abilities we are to use for His purpose – to help others and to glorify Him. If we don’t employ the strengths with which He has created us, we are choosing to operate in our limited abilities, discarding His presence, power and purpose. If we don’t use the gifts He has given us, are we being good stewards of the abilities He has provided? By choosing our will, are we wasting the talents He has entrusted to us?
In Luke 12:42-48, Jesus taught a parable pertaining to the accountability of a person’s use and employment of a gift, responsibility, and authority:
And the Lord said, “Who then is the faithful and wise manager, whom his master will set over his household, to give them their portion of food at the proper time? Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions. But if that servant says to himself, ‘My master is delayed in coming,’ and begins to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and get drunk, the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know, and will cut him in pieces and put him with the unfaithful. And that servant who knew his master’s will but did not get ready or act according to his will, will receive a severe beating. But the one who did not know, and did what deserved a beating, will receive a light beating. Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more.
Much is required from those who have been given much. 1 Peter 4:10 says, “As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace.” Paul, in 1 Corinthians 12:7, wrote that the purpose of our gifts is for the common good.
The parable in Luke 12:42-48 shows the manager was not a good steward of the responsibility, authority, and gift provided to him by his master. He did not employ his responsibility according to his master’s will – to serve those under his authority and use his gifts for the common good. He wasted the opportunity to thrive in the strength, power, ability, and confidence of his master, due to his own pursuits, will, and desires.
I don’t want to be found unfaithful to God, serving my own desires and neglecting His purpose in my life. I don’t want to cause harm to others because I’ve sought my own will above His. I don’t want to waste the gifts and responsibility He has entrusted to me. I know I have failed. And I know I will fail again. Thank God for His forgiveness, grace, mercy, and love that covers a multitude of sins.
God sees our hearts and knows our intentions. Seek Him and serve Him with a pure heart. Gratefully and willingly employ the gifts and responsibilities He has entrusted to you. Let’s serve others as good stewards of the strengths and authority God has provided to each of us.
Holding Fast to Hope,
Maryann
Scripture References: Luke 12:42-8; 1 Peter 4:10; 1 Corinthians 7:17, 12:4-7; Luke 22:42
