Each According to His Ability (Part 6)

"For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another. Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them..." ~ Romans 12:4‭-‬6 NKJV

There's a reason we all have different gifts.

Because God doesn't intend for us to live in isolation.

Rather, man is designed to live interdependently. That is, that while each of us is responsible for managing our own individual gifts and talents, we also have a responsibility to use our gifts for the good of the whole.

Don't believe me? Check Romans 12!

In it, the Bible says that we are members of one body. While we all have different functions, the body is designed to work in concert with itself. In order words, each of us make up a part of a body that ultimately works together as one.

That is why I encourage folks to find what they're good at and partner with others in the areas they are not.

We weren't designed to do everything on our own. God gives us a function so that we might edify the body, not just ourselves. But when we function in isolation, we actually operate in dysfunction.

So, how are you functioning today?

God bless,
J.W. 

Each According to His Ability (Part 1)

This culture we live in seems to be obsessed with two things - popularity and fame. Kids grow up wanting to be like celebrities. Adults idolize and admire the same.

But the Bible says that God has plans for our lives (Jeremiah 29:11) - specific, distinct, and individualized plans. Matthew 25:15 says that he gives us talents, "each according to his ability." Romans 12:6 says we're each given different gifts, "according to the grace given to each of us." Romans 12:4-5 says that although we are one body, we all have different functions.

Part of the problem with our culture nowadays is that we have too many "eyes" trying to be "ears." And too many "feet" trying to be "hands."

God has given you gifts, no matter how small, because you have a special function He wants you to play. Your gifts have been given to you for a reason. But that reason will never come to pass if you're trying to exercise someone else's gift.

Are you operating in your function today?

God bless,
J.W.

The Assignment Bureau (Part 4)

Too often, as Christians, we get caught up in ritual and tradition. What worked for one generation, one group, or one person often becomes the standard by which we judge what is of God and what is not.

But God assigns to each of us a unique calling – meaning, everyone may not understand that which God has assigned you to do.

"For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body . . . We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us." - Romans 12:4-6

Don’t let others talk you out of your assignment just because they may not understand it. At the end of the day, it’s not for them to understand. If it was, God would have given it to them. But He didn’t. He gave it to the person to which it was assigned.

God bless,

J.W.