3 Thoughts to Help You Share The Gifts You’ve Been Given

What if you freely share the gifts you’ve been given? Give the gift you have, no matter how small it may seem from your perspective.
By contributing writer, Liz.

A few weeks ago I read an amazing article by Kristen of We are THAT Family titled “What Really Happens When We Do What We’re Good At (& Share It).”

I’m not going to rehash the entire article here (you really should just go read it, don’t worry, I’ll wait for you to come back!), but the basic idea of it was to take the things you are good at (your gifts) and share them with others.

Telling the story of having a very difficult week, Kristen writes:

You know the kind—

The upstairs bathroom sinks backed up, the garage door opener was struck by lightening, I forgot to turn the crockpot on for dinner, and then I was rear ended and front ended in stop and go traffic on the way to church.

Do I know the kind? Yes! And I bet you do too.

Later in the week she arrives at her stylist’s house for her hair appointment and is surprised with a home cooked meal (plus chocolate chip cookies!) to take home.

Kristen continues:

I didn’t even really know this woman and I was completely humbled by her generosity, thoughtfulness and the unexpected way she chose to serve me and my family.

With the craziness of the day, I hadn’t even thought about dinner. The kitchen isn’t my sweet spot, but I could tell it was hers. My mouth was already watering. And my heart was full.

What could have seemed like such a small act, really made a big impact.

So, what if we freely shared the gifts we’ve been given?

This topic has been on my heart a lot lately. As I’ve pondered it, I’ve come up with three things to remember that help me as I seek to share the gifts I have been given.

Know your gifts

This seems easy, but it can be so easy to overlook the things that just come naturally to you! I wonder, do you think Kristen’s hairdresser thought of her abilities in the kitchen as a gift?

For me, I realized that one of my gifts is caring for children. I obviously care for my own children, but throughout the years I have taken care of other people’s children as well. I never really thought of this as being a gift and a ministry, but it really is.

What are your gifts? What things that you are good at? Have you thought about how you can use them as a ministry and a gift for others?

Note: I talk about a lot of this in my FREE Developing Your Own Mission Statement Guide you can download here.

Stewarding your gifts wisely makes it easier to bless others with them

This is something I’ve spend a lot of time thinking about. The laundry. The dishes. The vacuuming. The picking up of the toys. And, oh my, the laundry. All these things are gifts. The clothes to wear, the food to eat, the house we live in and the toys we play with – gifts.

What a change in perspective this has been! Sure, these chores still aren’t my favorite things to do. However, when I am caring for these things I am stewarding the gifts God has given me.

What does this have to do with sharing your gifts with others? I’ve found that when you steward your gifts well, it makes it so much easier to share them!

For example, just the other day I got a call from my husband saying that it was his boss’ birthday and his coworkers wanted to get her a cake. Because I had been doing a good job stewarding my gifts (my house was actually picked up and kitchen clean!) I was easily able to spend the morning baking her a homemade version of her favorite cake.

Could I have done this if the house was a mess? Sure. But it was so much easier and less stressful to bless her in this way because I already had things taken care of.

No gift is too small

No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.
-Aesop 

Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love.
-Mother Teresa

Both of the above quotes are so true. Give the gift you have, no matter how small it may seem from your perspective.

For so long (too long!) I wondered if the gifts I gave really mattered to God. I am doing nothing fancy with my life. I am not a popular leader, a foreign missionary, or even the greatest parent most days. However, I have been convicted that my gifts do matter. I am right where God wants me now.

So, to share my gifts is powerful. Not because of me – but because of the gift giver.

So, I ask one more time…

What if we freely shared the gifts we’ve been given?

Do you want to know what you have been given in order to steward it well?

I want to help you gain clarity, so you can start living the life you were created for.

Download my FREE Developing Your Own Mission Statement Guide and learn more about it here.