Equal in Effort

Have you ever looked at someone and thought, "I wish I had their talent. I wish I had their ability"?

The Bible says, "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 12:5–6).

These verses are saying that if you are a committed Christian who has asked God to fill you with the Holy Spirit, then God has instilled gifts, or a gift, in your life as He has chosen. It’s not for us to pick and choose what gifts we want; it’s for God to decide. There are gifts in your life. There are abilities in your life. There are talents that God has given to you and that He has given to me. We are to take those talents and do something with them.

It is not a person’s talent that matters as much as how he or she uses it. God never demands from a person abilities they do not have. But He does demand that we should use to the full the abilities we do possess. We may not be equal in talent, but we should be equal in effort.

God can do a lot with a little. Jesus can take a little, He can bless it, and He can multiply it. He can use it beyond our wildest dreams.

You may say, "I don’t have a lot to offer."

That’s all right. God is not looking for ability as much as He is looking for availability. He is looking for someone like you to say, "Lord, here I am. Send me." Take what God has given to you and do the most that you can with it for His glory.