As we waited to board a flight a couple of months ago, I noticed that the airline employee giving intercom boarding announcements at the gate was unusually articulate. She was so good, she sounded like she could have been on the radio! As is my habit whenever possible, I complimented her on her obvious talent. I’m eager to share with you how she responded.
She said as a child she’d often been chided by adults for being too loud. They repeatedly corrected her with the instruction to use her “inside voice” when indoors. Yet it seemed all she had was an outside voice, and having people constantly call attention to her volume caused her to feel self-conscious and ashamed all her life. It was not until she was sixty-five years old, attending an uncle’s funeral, that she decided to not be embarrassed anymore— she realized her voice was a gift!
This exchange stood out to me because so many people fail to recognize the gifts with which God has blessed them. I think the enemy of our souls, the father of lies, tries to make us believe our gifts are a curse instead. He convinces us to minimize, or even worse, despise these gifts, so we live in shame and never exercise them.
God created us to bear fruit. How do you think that happens? Trees bear fruit because they have the ability to carry on photosynthesis through their leaves and to draw nutrients from the ground through their roots. The fruit production process is programmed within them, and in the right season they flower and the fruit forms. In similar fashion, as we use our abilities, our gifts, and we stay connected to Jesus, the vine, and we are rooted and grounded in His love, we will naturally produce fruit. We don’t have to sweat and strain with unrelenting self-critique, determination and sheer willpower, gritting our teeth in order to produce. Can you picture that kind of stressful attitude and approach creating a blossom that would turn to good fruit?
In contrast, Jesus calls us to lay aside the heavy yoke of performance and to humbly enter into His rest (Matthew 11:28-29, Hebrews 4:9-11). As we depend on Him and enjoy His presence, where we find fullness of joy, we naturally bloom—with abiding fruit the result. We gladly embrace and use our gifts because we recognize we didn’t get them on our own—He graciously gave them for us to enjoy and to be a blessing to others (1 Corinthians 4:7, 1 Timothy 6:17).
God highlighted this for me a few days ago in the context of my new job—in an entirely new career field for me. I’ve only been at it a couple of months, but as I met with my boss this past week he expressed how happy he was with my work. He couldn’t believe how quickly I had been able to produce such useful information with so little experience, and he summed it up by saying, “It’s a gift!”
Our loving Creator gave each one of us gifts that especially fit us; gifts we enjoy using, abilities that come as naturally to us as breathing. YOU are gifted! Do you know what your special gifts are, and are you using them to bless others? Discover them! Use them!
