Gifts vs. Commitments

Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.  Philippians 2:1-4

Most people know that I spend a lot of my time focusing on the development of others’  strengths much like focusing on spiritual gifts spoken of in 1 Corinthians 12.  Listening to a pastor last week, he spoke of something that is often mistaken as being a spiritual gift; humility.  He made this statement; “Humility is not a gift.  It is a choice.”  This was truly revealing because I thought this was one thing others got a pass on because they were simply not capable of it.  The truth is we all are capable of this and other things that we can simply choose to do.

We must remember not to confuse our gifts from God with our commitments to God.  Many times, we look at our own abilities, and say we are not capable of doing certain things.  Everyone has an ‘I can’t _____’ statement.  Here’s the thing.  God gives us love, grace, and a rebirth.  All of us were unworthy of such, but He made a way for us through Jesus Christ.  What if God said, “I’m sorry, but I can’t forgive you,” or “You know?  Let someone else take care of you?”  How would that work?  There are things we do through the gifts God gave us, but there are also things that are non-negotiable.  We must be willing to dig through our own barriers and ugliness to say ‘I can’ to a worthy and awesome God.

Jesus Christ gives us clarity of our commitment to God.  He says, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind,” and, “Love your neighbor as  yourself.” (Matthew 22:37, 39)  These are not gifts we are blessed with.  These are choices that we must be willing to live by, and we must never accept that we are incapable of doing something God expects from us.  What will you commit to God that you have not before?  My prayer is that we are given wisdom enough to discern God’s gifts from our commitments to Him.  Amen.