by admin | Nov 4, 2018 | Christianity
“God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another” (1 Peter 4:10 NLT).
The Bible says in 1 Peter 4:10, “God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another” (NLT). When you use your abilities to help each other, God is glorified.
God wired you to make a contribution.
God did not give you talents and abilities for your benefit.
They are for the benefit of other people, and their talents are for the benefit of you.
I am so grateful for people who are talented in areas that I’m not good at. For instance, I’m grateful for accountants. Because I stink at accounting! I’m grateful for people who know how to do taxes.
I’m grateful for people who have mechanical ability. I couldn’t fix a carburetor if I had to. I wouldn’t even know where to find it!
Everybody has different talents.
God has given me some talents. One of my talents is taking the Word of God and making it clear for other people to understand. When I use that ability, you get blessed. My talent is for you. It’s to help you.
But here’s the point: You’ve got talents, too. Are you using them to bless others? Are you using them to help others?
If you don’t use the talents God gave you, other people get cheated. The way you bring glory to God is by using your talents. “Use your gifts well to serve one another.” God is glorified when you use your abilities to serve others.
PLAY today’s audio teaching from Pastor Rick >>
Talk About It
- What gifts has God given to you?
- How are you using your God-given gifts to serve others? What are some other ways God might want you to use them for the benefit of others?
- How do you need to accept help from someone so that person is able to use his or her gifts to bring glory to God?
– Daily Hope, Rick Warren
by admin | Nov 1, 2018 | Christianity
When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Matthew 9:36
Anne Frank is well known for her diary describing her family’s years of hiding during World War II. When she was later imprisoned in a Nazi death camp, those with her said “her tears [for them] never ran dry,” making her “a blessed presence for all who knew her.” Because of this, scholar Kenneth Bailey concluded that Anne never displayed “compassion fatigue.”
Compassion fatigue can be one of the results of living in a badly broken world. The sheer volume of human suffering can numb even the best intentioned among us. Compassion fatigue, however, was not in Jesus’s makeup. Matthew 9:35–36 says, “Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.”
Our world suffers not only from physical needs but also from spiritual brokenness. Jesus came to meet that need and challenged His followers to join Him in this work (vv. 37–38). He prayed that the Father would raise up workers to respond to the needs all around us—people who struggle with loneliness, sin, and illness. May the Father give us a heart for others that mirrors His heart. In the strength of His Spirit, we can express His compassionate concern to those who are suffering.
