I’m Pretty Special. And So Are You.

Have you ever felt…

There’s nothing special about me.

I’m worse than ordinary; I’m boring.

I don’t have anything to offer.

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11

Yes, that means you too!

But…

She’s so much smarter & more talented than I am.

And that one over there? She’s got it all together. I’m a mess.

And her? She probably prays and studies the Bible for hours on end. I’m not like that. God wouldn’t want to use me.

“The human body has many parts, but the many parts make up one whole body. So it is with the body of Christ. Some of us are Jews, some are Gentiles, some are slaves, and some are free. But we have all been baptized into one body by one Spirit, and we all share the same Spirit.

 “Yes, the body has many different parts, not just one part. If the foot says, ‘I am not a part of the body because I am not a hand,’ that does not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear says, ‘I am not part of the body because I am not an eye,’ would that make it any less a part of the body? If the whole body were an eye, how would you hear? Or if your whole body were an ear, how would you smell anything?

 “But our bodies have many parts, and God has put each part just where he wants it. How strange a body would be if it had only one part! Yes, there are many parts, but only one body. The eye can never say to the hand, ‘I don’t need you.’ The head can’t say to the feet, ‘I don’t need you.’”  I Corinthians 12:12-21

Did you catch that?

“God has put each part just where he wants it.”

He has a special plan for you just where you are.

And, it gets better! Check this out…

“In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well. So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out with as much faith as God has given you. If your gift is…” Romans 12:6-8

Follow that link to read the rest of that list. But, you get the idea. God has given all of His children special gifts – and notice that’s plural – gifts. Sweet!

Now about the gifts of the Spirit, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed.” I Corinthians 12:1

Oh. Yea, that makes sense.

If we gave someone a gift, we would want them to know what it is. Wouldn’t we? If they didn’t know what the gift is, they couldn’t enjoy it or use it. And I suppose we (the giver) would be disappointed that our well-thought-out gift was just sitting there not being used.

I urge you to find out what spiritual gifts you’ve been given and then put them to work.

Another thing to keep in mind – sometimes God seems to like to re-arrange the gifts that He’s handed out. In one life stage you might be strongly gifted in a particular area and then sometime later, your strengths might be elsewhere. This is something that needs to be re-assessed from time to time.

How can you find out what your gifts are? There are tons of books and websites you can explore that will explain all of that.

And as your mother said, “What do you say?”

Thank you, God, for the gifts that you have given us. You are so creative and are so generous to us. Help us to see the gifts and show us how we are each uniquely designed to put them to work.  I pray that we do you proud in the way that we use them.

Mandy Hood

Mandy is a board member and executive director of The Connection. She loves to facilitate women connecting with each other and helping them grow in their faith.

Mandy and her husband have been married for 38 years and have 2 adult children, 2 in-law children and 3 grandchildren.