"As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God." 1 Pet 4:10
If you are a believer on the Lord Jesus Christ then you have been given a gift from God to be used for the benefit of fellow believers and for the glory of God. A gift is a gracious divine endowment, it is something that has nothing to do with any natural ability we may have but is a work that God has enabled us to do through the Holy Spirit. We are not going into the specifics of spiritual gifts here, but we will do a fuller more expansive post in the near future.
Paul encouraged Timothy in the matter of his gift - "therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you". It is important that as believers we look to understand the gift God has given us, and stir it up, use it and develop it - we should not be lazy Christians content to coast along in our spiritual lives! Paul exhorts us to be good stewards in this respect. A steward means a manager, governor or chamberlain, so we are to be busy, wise and resourceful as we seek to serve God using the gift he has given us. The idea is put across by the Lord Jesus in Luke 12:42 when there were faithful and wise stewards who served him well in their master's absence and received due reward at his coming again. This similar idea is put across in Luke 19 and Matt 25, although we haven't the time to go into these scriptures in detail. Suffice to say that the lesson is clear; we need to use the divine gifts God has given us and be active in the employment of them in His service so that God will be glorified and that we as good and faithful servants will be blessed both here now and in a future day of review as well.
As we close we should remember that the exercise of spiritual gifts should always be with the glory of God in view, and for the profit, or benefit of all (1 Cor 12:7). It is not for our own glory, or our own personal advancement, neither should it draw attention to ourselves, for this would be of the flesh. Later on in verse of 1 Peter 4 Paul says concerning gifts "...that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ..." I can think of no stronger motivation for serving God than this! What a privilege that we should ever be involved in the service of God!
We pray that we may be challenged and encouraged by these things, and that each may seek God's face concerning our spiritual gift and how we may use it for the glory of God.
Yours in Christ, Mark
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
-
Let me say at the outset - I love this Bible. It is without a shadow of a doubt the finest quality Bible that I have ever owned or even hand... -
Just a few skeleton thoughts from this interesting and well-known chapter, let's look for comparisons and contrasts with our Lord Jesus....
Hi Bro, How very challenging! We (mostly I) need to know what God wants me to do. How to do it, when and to who. And then to do it to give Him all the glory! Thanks. Dan
ReplyDeleteThanks for visiting, reading and commenting Dan. I had been challenged by these verses in our Bible Class at Winshill. Of course we could expand this study by referring to other scriptures such as 1 Cor 12, Rom 12 and Eph 4 to name a few, but I might look at this in a later study which will mean a longer post!
ReplyDeleteThanks for your continued encouragement and support, God bless.
Mark