Gifts and Pride

nam-eno · Newbie Joined: Jul 05, 2007 Posts: 77 Status: **Offline**

070530

It is right to express that we believe in God and praise Him in all of His glory. It is right to thank the Lord for the talents he has bestowed upon us. We miss the point, though, if we confer upon ourselves that we are somehow superior to others because of our beliefs or the gifts we have received. We should understand that if we are truly believers in and servants of God, we are servants of one another. As a servant, we draw from the talents granted us by our Lord.

We must be careful that pride does not stand in our way. It can be pride that makes us believe that the gifts we have somehow makes us superior to others. In that feeling of superiority, it can be pride that causes us to judge others as if they were less than ourselves. It is a trap in which we fall easier than we think. It has been written that we should not judge, lest we should be judged. We must seek forgiveness of our own sins rather than to judge the sins of others.

If God has given us a gift of wisdom, discernment, the ability to sing in angelic voices or to speak in tongues, we should thank and praise Him for the blessing of the gifts bestowed upon us. No one has been given all gifts, so we are called to work together to join the use of our talents and resources in the service, praise and worship of our Lord.

Everyone is blessed with a gift, we just may not know or understand it. As we come in touch with and use our gifts, we are in service of God's community. We must be careful, though, that we do not use our gifts to fuel our own pride, rather, we should understand we are a vessel to serve the will of the Lord and God's plan.

God has given us our talents for a purpose. He has given us these gifts to serve His will. We should seek to understand what talents God has given us and to what purpose we should use them. Only in prayer will we hope to understand.

Dear Lord, help me to understand the gifts and blessings You have bestowed upon me. Help me to understand the purpose for which You want me to use these talents. Dear Lord, send Your spirit upon me that I may fight temptation and that I become a vessel of Your Love and peace, that I may serve Your will.

Amen,

Nam Eno

Betsi · Newbie Joined: Apr 29, 2008 Posts: 1 Status: **Offline**

Thank you for that beautiful message. It is good to be reminded of the blessings that we have. As you so adequately phrased it, we sometimes forget that we should not be judging others and confuse the afore stated with constructive criticism (given to an individual out of true concern). I can only hope many read your post and put it into practice while others learn it by any other means that at the end directs them towards God's true intent.