Gifts For Ministry

Gifts for Ministry

1 Peter 4:10

As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.

The idea today, as with the days of the past, is that everybody is a minister. And the passage that we just read verifies that idea, that it is a biblical idea. “Every man has some gift; no man has all. So, every man must minister.” Before we continue, I want you to know that I like the bible use the word man to mean mankind, which includes women. You too must minister.

Peter reminds us that it is a gift, something that we are to receive. We do not earn it, but we receive it. Much like a package that gets delivered to your home, you must sign for it. And is delivered by Christ Jesus and you sign for it when you accept Him as your Lord and Savior.

The gift that you have may have been with you before your conversion, but you will find that it is energized the moment you accept Christ. Or it could be something that you receive the moment of conversion. But in either case you will find that you need to continue to develop it, continue to feed it, continue to nurture it, and continue to use it. Don’t fear the gift that God has bestowed upon you, because in giving you a gift God has given it to you in a way that is manageable for you. For Romans 12:3-8 tells us:

For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith. For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another. Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith; or ministry, let us use it in our ministering; he who teaches, in teaching; he who exhorts, in exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.

So, use your God given gift to minister to those you meet, use it knowing that the Holy Spirit will be there for you to support your work in God’s kingdom. Don’t take your gift and hide it under a bucket, let it shine brightly. And as Paul tells us, use your gifts with simplicity, not trying to overdo or outshine others around you.

Use your gifts as directed by the Holy Spirit, be led by the Spirit, because as you are being led so are others who may be led to use their gifts to effect one purpose. And in this we understand that the Holy Spirit is in control and is central to the quality of the gift in use, as written in 1 Corinthians 12:4-6

There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all.

Some may be asking, what is my gift? It is anything that you have that another Christian brother or sister lacks. It is anything that you have that can be a benefit to another. It is all your gifts and graces by which one can help another.

Remember that your gift was given to minister to others, and that means that you are to serve one another. So wherever there is a need, there is an opportunity for you to serve. The story of the Good Samaritan can be found in Luke 10:30-36, which it is a parable Jesus uses to teach us what a neighbor is, so that we can understand what loving our neighbor really means. In this story we can also see the gifts of ministry in giving and healing: The good Samaritan understood their gifts and how to use them. Additionally, it teaches us that there are no racial or ethnic limits that prevent use from serving our neighbors. We as Christians should act in the same manner as the Samaritan in the parable presented in the book of Luke.

Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, That there may be food in My house, And try Me now in this,” Says the Lord of hosts, “If I will not open for you the windows of heaven And pour out for you such blessing That there will not be room enough to receive it.

Malachi 3:10