This week’s devotions are based on this week’s message: Let Easter Change you: Godly Community! (WATCH HERE)
Everyone wants to do something significant. They want their life to matter and leave a legacy of impact. One of the causes of depression can be a loss of purpose, a sense of insignificance or a feeling that we have value.
If one finds purpose, significance and value, it heightens one’s self-confidence and self-confidence, but they are also able to find a higher sense of joy and satisfaction with life.
There are lots of arenas in life that seek to fill these realities for you. We can seek this significance in our career. We look for value in the people with whom we socialize. We can believe we have value if we have added value to people in some way.
All of this is good.
So why do I need the church?
Anything outside the mission of the kingdom of God has impact for time. Serving in the kingdom of God has an impact for eternity. When we use our gifts, abilities and interests in service to the Gospel ministry and bringing God’s grace to others we have brought something of eternal significance, value and purpose to another person.
The cool thing is that God has gifted you for this very purpose. When he brought you into his family by faith, he also gave you his Spirit to give you gifts that are to be used for the blessing of others in the church, but also to impact the world for Christ. Consider what is said in Romans 12:4 For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, 5 so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. 6 We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; 7 if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; 8 if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.
Or in 1 Corinthians:
1 Corinthians 12:4-6, 27 There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. 5 There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. 6 There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work. … Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.
YOU are part of the body of Christ! YOU have gifts that God has given to you to be a blessing in the work of God’s kingdom.
Perhaps it’s like this. At some point in our lives we have evaluated our gifts and abilities, our education and our experiences. We take these and put them on a resume and send that resume off to companies hoping that they will see our resume and make an offer of employment to add our abilities to their company. It’s hard when resumes are returned or rejected. It’s exciting when someone wants YOU for the job. They want YOUR gifts. They want YOUR interests. They want YOUR personality. They believe YOU can add value to their company and so they hire you.
100x that and you have God’s passion for YOU to be part of his team. He doesn’t wait for you to develop the skills, have the right experience or change your personality. He CREATES you for the work that he has for you to do and we get to discover it. He GIVES you the gifts that he wants you to have to do the work he has “prepared in advance for us to do” (Ephesians 2:10). He “hires” us not because of our performance, but because of his grace and gives us a spot on the team to bring the eternal truth of the Gospel to the world. And when we work for God and serve with our gifts, there is nothing more significant, more important, more valued, more impactful than being part of the church and doing the work of God together!
Apply: Are you plugged in with your gifts? Do you struggle to know how to contribute to Gospel ministry? If so, reach out to pastorgeiger@gmail.com and we will help you discover the unique gifting God has given to you to serve in his kingdom through the local church.
Prayer: Spirit of God, thank you for gifting me with the gifts you want me to have to do the work you have prepared for me to do. Give me confidence and conviction to show up for God’s work every day and maximize the use of the gifts you have given to me. AMEN.