How faithfully and effectively do you use your God-given strengths?

Each day you pursue God’s calling—at home, at work, at church. Each day you focus on being faithful. That’s good. In pursuing God’s calling, being faithful is vital. Because being faithful is vital, I want you to consider a question: How faithful are you in using your God-given strengths? Or to put it another way, How faithful are you in using God’s blessings?
 
God has given you a calling. And He has prepared you for that calling by giving you specific strengths: He has worked in your life to teach you key truths and given you a unique network of relationships, a variety of abilities, distinguishing character traits, and a range of experiences and education.
 
So, how faithful are you in using your God-given strengths? How faithful are you in using God’s blessings? (How faithful are you in using your talents? Remember the Parable of the Talents? Remember how the master responded to the servant who buried his talent? Not using your talents in the name of being faithful is a little like burying them.)
 
Answering these questions is vital. Answering these questions can help you pursue God’s calling. Answering these questions can help you make sure that you are playing your proper role in the Body of Christ and help you avoid being an “eye” that strives to faithfully be a “foot.”
 
So, what can you do? Identify the strengths (blessings) God has given you. Ask yourself, How faithful am I in using my God-given strengths? Help someone else reflect (you can use the questions in the sidebar). If you are a supervisor, ask yourself: How faithful am I in using the strengths God has given to those I supervise? How can I more effectively leverage the blessings God has given those I supervise?
 
Remember, faithfully pursuing God’s calling involves using the strengths God’s given you.

Imagine you’re a basketball coach. You have a player who scores 27 points per game, shoots 46% from the 3-point line, and gets 14 rebounds per game. You’re pleased with his performance.
 
But you’re puzzled. Read More...