Discover Your Talents
People are so different from one another. We have different likes and dislikes. We look different from each other. We act differently from each other. We think and respond in different ways. We are different because of gender, race, and religion. We choose different occupations, hobbies, and friendships. It’s just a simple fact; we are different!
All of these differences are found in the Lord’s Church as well. And, our congregation is no different. We are all different. When we assemble together, we are a gathering of people as different from one another as can possibly be with one exception. We are all children of God. That is what gives us commonality.
The bond we have with each other comes from the bond we have with the Lord. This is what Christianity does for us. It takes these divergent lives and puts them together on the same pathway toward Heaven. It does not take away the differences. Rather, it uses the differences as ministry opportunities in each other’s lives. Where one is weak another is strong.
The differences of talent account for much of the uniqueness that is each one of us. I Peter 4:10-11 discusses this uniqueness. “As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God. If anyone ministers, let him do it as with the ability which God supplies, that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.”
This text tells us what God expects from us with the gifts or talents He has given us. There are four instructions about our talents: 1. “minister it to one another” 2. “as good stewards” 3. “as with the ability which God supplies” 4. “that in all things God may be glorified”. We are instructed to use our talents or gifts in these ways because they have been given to us by God. It is one thing to discuss how to use talents and we have heard that many times. It is another thing to discuss how to determine what your gifts and talents are.
Interestingly, I found online a Certified Life Coach, Tracey Rogers MA who wrote an article about this very topic. She identified 2 major things that help people determine what are their talents. First, Reflect on Yourself. Think about your likes and dislikes, your desires, your successes, and with other things you can come to understand where your talents lie.
Second, she said Experience Life. Get out there and test yourself. Take the time to try new things, build on the basic skills you already have, take classes and study new things that you have never thought of before. These two things will get you to the point of knowing your talents.
Now think about this. What she has suggested is what God had already said in I Timothy 4:15, “Meditate on these things, give yourself entirely to them, that your progress may be evident to all.” Tracey agrees with God—Reflect (Meditate) on Yourself and Experience Life (give yourself entirely to them).
-Mike Johnson
