A young lady in our former Church was very dedicated to the Choir. She would make herself available every service while other choristers kept giving one excuse or the other for their absence. Before you know it, she overtook everyone as the lead worship leader in Church. Her singing gifts developed with use.

Friend, are you developing and deploying your gifts and abilities? When it comes to gifts and abilities, you must remember that you either use it or lose it. Unlike physical things, spiritual things get better with use. The more you use it, the better you are at using it and the better it gets. This is why those who play truant in Church never amount to anything in the Kingdom.

The parable of the talents is very instructive for us here. While the men with five and two talents used their gifts productively, the man with one talent came up with excuses (Matthew 25:24-30). Let me ask you; what excuse is keeping you from maximizing God’s Grace and Gifts on your life?

Are you too busy to be available for God? Do you consider your gift lesser or unimportant compare to others (2 Corinthians 10:12)? Do you consider yourself too big to serve, too tush or sophisticated to be used by God (Romans 12:3)? What exactly is keeping you from deploying your gifts and abilities for kingdom purposes? Would you use it or lose it?

Don’t bury your talents. It may be one. But that One Talent can make a huge difference in people’s life and in the Kingdom at large. Your gift is what brings out your difference, uniqueness and relevance in life. It is the key to your prosperity. “A gift is as a precious stone in the eyes of him that has it: wherever it turns, it prospers” (Proverbs 17:8).

You are not empty. Learn to identify your gift. Learn to stir it up (2 Timothy 1:6). Learn to use your gift. Serve with it. Release it, don’t hoard it. Look for opportunities to make contributions in people’s lives through your gifts. Join a service unit in Church; stop being “a bench warmer”. Be available at your place of work. Volunteer in your community. Derive joy in using your gift to bless humanity. You will succeed!

© ‘Demola Awoyele
Lead Pastor,
Destiny Impact Church
Akure, Nigeria