Stir up your Gift

     I am in my living room reading the book of 2 Timothy and in the first chapter of this book a verse stood out to me. The scripture is 2 Timothy 1:6 and it says… “This is why I remind you to fan into flames the spiritual gift God gave you when I laid my hands on you.” This is the NLT Version. I also want to share with you the NKJV. “Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands.”

    In the scripture, Paul is reminding Timothy to stir up the gifts that God gave him. This is exactly what God wants us to do. God gave all of us a special gift to use while we are here on this earth. And wouldn’t it be a shame not to use the gift God gave us? The part that intrigued me was “fan into the flames.” So I thought about a fire at a campsite and when you fan the flames it makes the fire more intense. When I was reading this I began to understand why Paul used this analogy. Like the fire, if you stop fanning it the fire will eventually die down. This is what happens when we don’t use our gifts; it lies dormant. It becomes inactive. But when you start adding the logs and fanning those flames it’s back intense again. This is what happens when we use our gifts. Every time we use our gifts we get better at it. We become more confident every time we share our gifts with the world.

     I do realize that some people do not know what their gifts are. But I do believe if you go to God in prayer and ask with a sincere heart he will reveal it to you. I know this from experience because I asked God and he revealed it to me. He didn’t tell me right away but the more time I spent with God he eventually revealed it to me. When you take the time to grow a closer relationship with God he will speak to you more and you will be able to recognize his voice. At one point I didn’t know what my gifts were. I got to a point in my life that I wanted to know.  For me, God reminded me of what I enjoyed doing as a child.

      I remember I always enjoyed writing. God brought back to my memory a book I wrote in the seventh grade. I think I was 12 years old at the time. The teacher gave us a homework assignment to write a short story. While the other kids complained I remember the assignment seemed easy to me because I like to write. I don’t remember the details but I do remember my teacher chose my book to be recognized. I remember the day came. I remember getting off the school bus and walking into this big building. I noticed there were other young writers there and our books were displayed neatly on a table. I was walking around and I finally saw my book. As a child I was in awe to see my book being recognized along with other young writers like myself. Fast forward 32 years later I still have that book and I am so grateful I still have it. I still look back at my book and read it sometimes. I will have a picture of my book below. The reason I shared that story is that sometimes if we look back at our childhood we can see our gifts as a child.

     God revealed to me that my gift is writing and the Holy Spirit put the desire in my heart to start this Blog. And I can honestly say I have enjoyed writing every single blog. I was also able to find out what my spiritual gifts are as well. About a year ago I took a class at my church and it was called Lifetrack. To sum it up, the class is about discovering your purpose. One of the assignments was to take a spiritual gift assessment.

     The assessment revealed to me my top three spiritual gifts. My top three spiritual gifts are Exhortation, Faith, and Mercy. Exhortation is the Divine strength or ability to encourage others. I shared the meaning of this one because I’ve been told so many times how encouraging I am. I also believe this is why I enjoy writing these Blogs. I get to do two things that I truly enjoy. Writing and encouraging others. Each blog that I write I pray it can encourage whoever reads them. Like I said earlier I know everyone doesn’t know what their gifts are but I would say start with talking with God first. That is what I did. Another thing that I did is I fasted. When you fast and pray God will speak to you and he will reveal things to you. Take the time to meditate in silence and to spend time with God. Quiet the noise around you and just listen. I know from experience the Holy Spirit will speak to you.

    Now it’s your turn! Do you know what your gifts are? If so, are you using them to your full capacity?

Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.

1 Peter 4:10

Page created using Blog & Page Builder by Reputon