Answer this question about yourself:
“When God made me, He made me _________________.”
Fill in the blank with that one, timeless attribute of you that is the most immutable, timeless, persistent aspect of your personality throughout your entire life. Avoid the temptation to fill the blank with something you would like it to be, or something religious. The answer needs to be totally primary for it to be worth anything…something deeper than any behavior…morally neutral. For me, it’s the word “rebellious.” That may surprise you, because it doesn’t sound morally neutral…but it all depends on what you’re rebelling against and the effect the rebellion has on the world around you. Ask anyone who’s known me for most of my life and they’d likely agree that “rebellion” has been a common theme with me…for better or for worse. That’s the point I want to make. So often, we don’t appreciate who God has made us to be, the gifts He’s given us; so we spent our lives frustratedly trying to be someone else, instead of embracing His intention for our quirkiness and letting Him use it for His purposes.
Now, just as all of God’s greatest gifts can be used either for good or evil, to elevate self or others, to make matters better or worse; each of us has the ability to wield our gifts as instruments of God’s plan to bring beauty and love and unity in the world. Or not. God grants us the gifts as well as complete control of how they will be used in our lives, their influence on others, and the world we inhabit.
The Apostle Peter wrote, “Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms. If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.” (1 Pe 4:10-11)
So…..who are you? And what does God want to do in you and through you?
