neglect of a gift

Gifts and Talents. Why am I pondering these? Maybe it’s because my church has been doing a deep dive into Romans 12, or maybe it’s because I am surrounded by people seeking to understand their purpose in this crazy, beautiful, heart-breaking life—a quest to which I am certainly no stranger!

Spiritual gift tests are plentiful in the Christian world, as are personality tests in the secular. Tools like the Enneagram assessment dribble over into Christian spheres as believers seek to discover and understand their personalities and giftings. I am not writing today to declare an opinion statement on the Enneagram or the Myers-Briggs or any other similar tool that people use to aid in self-discovery, but I am crafting this piece as a case study of sorts on the neglect of a God-given gift.

The offender? Myself! The offense: avoiding writing. This probably sounds terribly trivial to you, so allow me the space to divulge my story. I have loved writing ever since I can remember. Just ask my mom! I have a diary from 6th grade that detailed my dream winter wedding. True to the era of the early 90s, my bridesmaids would don forest green gowns with voluptuously puffy sleeves. As I look back, I wonder if those sleeves would have required shoulder pads! That too would have been true to the 90s.

Beyond silly diary entries that were protected by the most utterly incompetent locks known to man, I wrote voraciously for school. I actually enjoyed writing research papers (I kid you not) as well as poetry, creative writing assignments, and opinion articles in my high school newspaper. I excelled at writing, and it brought me deep satisfaction. In college and medical school, I continued to experience great joy when given the opportunity to write, as long as I had the bandwidth for it.

Fast forward to today. My last blog post was over 5 months ago. Shame on me! I did not even realize until yesterday that I had been neglecting this sweet gift that the Lord has given me to process ideas and share with others. Right now, my fingertips are gladly making music on the keyboard as I seek to right that wrong!

As I mentioned, our church is walking through Romans 12. In addition to Romans 12:4-8, two other Biblical texts come to mind when it comes to the study of spiritual gifts—1 Corinthians 12 and Ephesians 4:7-16. When I look at these passages together, one of the lessons I learn is that spiritual gifts, endowed by the Holy Spirit, are given to believers in Jesus “to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ” (Eph. 4:12). I also understand that each one of us is uniquely gifted for specific work and that we are not to compare ourselves to one another.

Isn’t that convicting?! love how the Message paraphrases 1 Cor. 12:27-31. Check out the whole thing if you have time. Here is a little excerpt:

But it’s obvious by now, isn’t it, that Christ’s church is a complete Body and not a gigantic, unidimensional Part? It’s not all Apostle, not all Prophet, not all Miracle Worker…And yet some of you keep competing for so-called “important” parts.

Rather than compare and compete, we should be thankful for the distinctively personal gifts given by our loving Father and work together toward unity (Eph. 4:13) as we run our individual races (Heb. 12:1-2). Eph. 2:10 explains, “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” The Lord has a good works prepared for you and good works prepared for me! That truth can be a balm to our troubled souls when we worry and wonder about our purpose in this world.

How do these scripture passages about spiritual gifts relate to my writing? We must be clear that there is a difference between spiritual gifts and talents, which can also just be called gifts (minus the “spiritual”). Writing is a talent I possess. It is also a gift, just not inherently spiritual by itself. What are your talents and natural abilities? You might excel in vocal or instrumental talent, acting, athletic prowess, tech savviness, mechanical know-how, organization, intelligence, wittiness, caregiving, problem-solving, etc. Individual talents showcase common grace in our world—God has bestowed upon all humans the ability to contribute to the flourishing of society through these special giftings.

What the Lord does in the case of a believer’s life is to grant spiritual gifts to be used to build the body of Christ. These gifts can then be enhanced by that person’s natural talents and abilities, and a beautiful intermingling of the whole person occurs as a believer walks in obedience, bringing glory to God, which is the true purpose of it all. For me, writing for the sake of writing is not necessarily building up the body of Christ, but when combined with the supernatural spiritual gifts of leading and teaching that the Lord has given me, writing then becomes a tool through which I can share my understanding of the His Word, hopefully encouraging others along the way.

I had excellent reasons for not using my writing talent over the past five months. We are too busy. It would be selfish of me to carve out the time to do this when the reality is that nearly every waking hour is spent managing myself, my husband and my three kids. When the kids are constantly in and out of the house during the summer and needs arise as fast as a Kentucky thunderstorm in July, it’s nearly impossible to find the peace and quiet needed to write.

Here I sit, in recognition that I spent five months unwittingly closing an avenue through which the Lord loves to teach me. Through His personal lessons that deepen and enhance my faith in Him, I am filled with words to share and those words can help build the body of Christ, one tiny brick at a time. I’m so thankful that He revealed my shortsightedness!

Lord, in your kindness, you showed me an error in my ways as I neglected one of the talents you graciously gave to me. Would you gently open the eyes of anyone who has stumbled across this post and might be neglecting something precious you have given them? Please reveal how you have great purpose for us while we bring glory to your Name, which we know is our ultimate calling. Show us how to glorify you in all we do. Amen.