Nuggets 90: What is Your Gift?

  • B. Shelburne
  • Jan 26, 2008
  • Series: Nuggets

Romanthie is a young single woman from Sri Lanka working in Houston.  She attends our church and Ruth and I have her in our shepherding group. 

As I was calling to check on our "sheep" today, Romanthie brought me up to date on her life.  "I am fixing up my place," she said, "because I so love cooking and having friends over to visit."   Romanthie had overbudgeted on a certain item.  She first thought to put the surplus money in savings, then decided to use it for a dining table.  "I feel that having friends over for food is a kind of ministry for me," she remarked.  And she is right.  She is socially gifted and she loves the Lord very much.  Put those together and you have a ministry of hospitality. 

Isn't that what Jesus wants from each of us, to serve him and others with whatever special ability he has given us?  Lee, another lady in our church is developing a system to help us connect with visitors and new members.  She is very good at her corporate job and she has "baptized" those skills to devote them to Christ.  My fellow shepherds bring a variety of skills and abilities, some from their parents' genes and some from their careers in law and sales and administration and classroom.  They are very good in their fields, but they willingly lay these gifts at Jesus' feet for kingdom service.  In fact, when we love Jesus and his kingdom over all else, even what we do in the workplace is really for Him.

I reminded Romanthie that Jesus did a lot of his ministry sitting with friends around a table.  

Romans 12:4-8;  1 Peter 4:8-11;  Hebrews 13:2;  Matthew 25:14-30;  Colossians 3:17

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Copyright 2007 by G.B. Shelburne, III.  May be freely reproduced or forwarded for non-commercial purposes provided content is unchanged and this copyright notice is included.  These shepherding messages are sent to members and friends of New Beginnings Church (www.nbchurch.com), to students and alumni of South Houston Bible Institute (www.shbi.org), and to other interested persons.

 

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