Talent Show - Kerry Shook

Hall of Fame college basketball coach, John Wooden, once said, “Your talent is a gift from God. What you do with it is your gift to Him.”  Do you have the opportunity to do what you do best and use your talents every day? Chances are, you don’t. From very early ages, it seems we spend more time fixing our shortcomings than developing our strengths. Now is the time to reverse your course and make a 180-degree turn, using His blessings of talents and strengths to create your gift to Him. 

God has given each of you a gift from His great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another. Do you have the gift of speaking? Then speak as though God himself were speaking through you. Do you have the gift of helping others? Do it with all the strength and energy that God supplies. Then everything you do will bring glory to God through Jesus Christ. All glory and power to Him forever and ever! Amen.  1 Peter 4:10-11 (NLT) 

Based on a 40-year study of human strengths by the Father of Strengths Psychology, Don Clifton, author Tom Rath has continued Clifton’s and the Gallup organization’s studies in his StrengthsFinder 2.0 book. According to Rath:

“Our natural talents and strengths — the things we truly love to do — last for a lifetime.  But all too often, our talents go untapped. This is why it’s essential not only to discover and develop your strengths as early as possible, but also [as leaders] to help the people around you build on their natural talents.

Whether you’re helping a good friend realize that she is a natural at coming up with new ideas, supporting a colleague as he looks for a better fit for his talents at work, or helping a young person understand that her natural competitiveness could be a lifelong asset instead of a hindrance— these actions will start to change the world around you.  Every human being has talents that are just waiting to be uncovered.”

God has given each of you distinctive strengths and gifts.  He gave you these strengths to help others while, at the same time, He gave other people strengths that help you.  Are you using what He’s given you for the benefit of others to make the world a better place?  They may be great or small in your eyes, but they matter to God. 

“Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful.” 1 Corinthians 4:2 (NIV)