conference room
Read Romans 12:6-13
"Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honor preferring one another" (v. 10).
It was the quarterly meeting of the ministerially challenged.
"Hi, my name is Tina, and I sure wish I could play the piano and sing like Sister Smith at my church. I just think I could really minister to people if I only had her talent." Tina swallowed a lump in her throat and sat down, wringing a tissue in her hand.
"My name is Bob, and all I have a talent for is fixing cars. I sure can't preach like our pastor. I don't know what to do." Bob sighed, folded his grease-stained hands, and sat down.
"Um, hi. My name is ... oh, I'm so shy; I'm just no good at public speaking. Why couldn't God have given me some talent useful for ministry?" And with that, the nameless young lady fled the room.
It can be easy to see others' talents and wish we were different. Maybe your pastor's wife is a superb organizer, or maybe your brother is great with kids. And you are just you.
The good news is that the Bible does not give a list of talents and abilities you have to have to serve God. In fact, Romans 12 basically says to find out what you are good at and to do that well. Then it says to love sincerely. Maybe sometimes we get things turned around. If we sincerely show love to others in the best way we know how, we will be ministering, using the talents God gave us. (Ashlee Englund)
Loving others is a ministry all of us can have.
This devotional is the October 18, 2013 reading from Opening the Word. Order your copy today!