God gives us gifts; each and every one of us has a gift. The gift is not necessarily what we want it to be. Sometimes it isn’t even something that we want to have or something which we like. Sometimes our gifts can be looked on as a negative thing and sometimes we try hard to ignore it and deny the fact that it exists.

These gifts are exactly that though, they are GOOD things, which are offered to us by our Heavenly Father. It is completely up to us as to whether we choose to accept them or whether we choose to ignore them and leave them in the corner gathering dust.

When I was 16 I was in this group of friends who often told me that I was bossy- they didn’t like it at all. They hated it if I told them what they should do, maybe rightly so… but it meant that actually I started to hate that part of who I was and that I would try to hide that even when it was a useful thing. As I grew up, I began to take more and more leadership roles- in cell groups and organizing events- being “bossy” became a useful skill. If I used it in the right way it meant that things got done and that actually people were being blessed around me, and God was being glorified.

It wasn’t about me telling people what to do at all. It was about me letting God have control of that part of me and letting Him use it to glorify Him. It was about me allowing God to show me when being “bossy” was showing His love to people.

 If we do not surrender our gifts to God then we cannot use them in the right way. We have to give every part of our life to God, we have to give Him control and then through that God teaches us how to use the gifts that we have been given.

Within church we are aware that people can be gifted at speaking, leading worship, evangelism or prophecy, but we forget that people are also gifted in kindness and compassion, in listening and organizing. People are gifted in hospitality and praying, in joy and conversation.

God’s gifting is in all areas of life and sometimes they are engrained deep inside of us- they are simply part of who we are and they make up our personalities. These gifting should be enjoyed and honoured and surrendered to God so that they can be used in the correct way.

 So let us accept who we are and the gifts that God has given us. Let us accept and surrender our personalities to God so that He can show us how to use them in the correct way.

Let us honour God in all of our lives.