What's Your Gift?

GIFT- noun

1. something given voluntarily without payment in return, as to show favor toward someone, honor an occasion, or make a gesture of assistance; present.

2. the act of giving.

3. something bestowed or acquired without any particular effort by the recipient or without its being earned: Those extra points he got in the game were a total gift.

4. a special ability or capacity; natural endowment; talent

That's the definition from http://dictionary.reference.com/ .. We all know what most of them mean, but let's discuss #4....an ability or capacity; natural endowment; talent

What's yours? All of you that read this are just normal everyday people that are just doing normal everyday things, get kids off to school, work, home, homework, dinner, showers, bed, repeat....... (sounds like the back of the shampoo bottle). Do we all have gifts, as described in definition #4? Why YES, YES WE DO! Do we know what they are all the time? No. Do we use them all the time? No.

I have several gifts. One of them is the gift of hospitality. I didn't even realize I had it until the pastor at our church was talking to me and he said, 'You know what? You have the gift of hospitality.' That was stemming from introducing myself to some new visitors that had come in with a child and them showing them where to go. I have to admit, that felt pretty good to finally realize it. Go Team Me!
Another one of my gifts is the gift of serving children. I work in children's church at Grace Point Community Church. I LOVE working with the children & I am good at it! I have such a wonderful time teaching them & talking with them. They are so honest about God. Yes, it's challenging sometimes, but it's so rewarding. They love the stories, games, videos that go with the stories. I have been asked on more than one occasion, 'How do you get them to just sit like that & not run around like wild animals?' Well, the answer is CANDY. Yes, it's bribery at it's finest, ladies & gentlemen, but I look at it like this.... If God uses Smarties or Tootsie Rolls to get his word across & plant a seed in a child's mind & heart, then who am I to question it. You wonder...so, God told you to use Smarties? No, not exactly, but he did give me the gift of teaching these children & the brainpower to figure out how to get them to listen to His word.
What are your gifts? Everyone's is different. I like to work with children at church, you may not. I don't like to work with teenagers, can't stand it, but others do love it. Some people have silent gifts, as I like to call them. They are the ones that clean up afterward, set up chairs or whatnot before an event, some are pray warriors (that's an important one), some are givers.
So, as you read this post, I challenge you. If you don't know what your gift is, figure it out. If you have it figured out, but don't use it, start using it! If you have figured it out, but are afraid to use it, step out and try it! You never know!