“Each one, as a good manager of God’s different gifts, must use for the good of others the special gift he has received from God.” 1 Peter 4:10 (GNT)
Do I know what purpose God created me for? Do I know what my destiny is? Part of understanding my purpose is recognizing the gifts God has given me to use.
These gifts are part of the cards I've been dealt in life. They include the things I can’t control, like who my parents were, where I was born, and my background. They also include my SHAPE—my spiritual gifts, heart, abilities, personality, and experiences. These are the things that make me uniquely me.
I'm responsible for making the most of these God-given gifts. But I'm not responsible for the gifts God didn’t give me. In other words, if I am not artistically gifted, I am not expected to paint pictures like Rembrandt. If I'm not mechanically minded, God likely won’t call me to bless my elderly neighbor with oil changes.
But God does expect me to use my own gifts for the good of others: “Each one, as a good manager of God’s different gifts, must use for the good of others the special gift he has received from God” (1 Peter 4:10 GNT).
When I get to heaven, God isn’t going to compare me with anyone else, but he will compare me with myself. What did I do with what I was given? What could I have done if I had trusted God a little bit more? Romans 14:12 says, “Each of us will give an account of ourselves to God” (NIV).
The Old Testament tells the story of Esther, a Hebrew woman who became queen and rescued her people. She had three assets that God gave her to fulfill her destiny. She was intelligent, was physically beautiful, and had an engaging personality. Because of these qualities, “Esther won the favor of everyone who saw her. . . . She won [the king’s] favor and approval . . . So he set a royal crown on her head and made her queen” (Esther 2:15, 17 NIV).
God gave Esther specific gifts for a purpose. In the same way, God has given me gifts for a purpose. And just like Esther, I have a responsibility to be a good steward of those gifts—not for selfish uses but for the good of others.
God used Esther’s gifts to save the Hebrew people from a potentially murderous king. How might God use my gifts to benefit others?
In summary:
Discovering God’s purpose for my life begins with recognizing and stewarding the unique gifts he has given me—my background, spiritual gifts, heart, abilities, personality, and experiences (our SHAPE). I am not responsible for gifts I don’t have, but I am accountable for how faithfully I use the ones I do have for the good of others. God will not compare me to anyone else; instead, he will ask me what I did with what I was given. Like Esther, whose specific gifts positioned her to fulfill God’s purpose and bless others, each of us has been entrusted with gifts meant to serve beyond ourselves. The true measure of faithfulness is not talent or comparison, but stewardship—using what God has placed in my hands to benefit others and honor him.
Bottom Line:
I am responsible for faithfully using the gifts God has given me—not to compare myself to others, but to serve others and fulfill the purpose he uniquely designed for me.
Next Steps:
Identify one specific gift God has given and intentionally use it this week to serve someone else, trusting that obedience with what I/we have is how God advances our/my purpose.
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