Your Gifts Are Not Yours
This month we are talking about the gifts you're carrying. Understanding your gifts is vital to your life. When you know your gifts, you can show up in the world with confidence and clarity on the work God has called you to do, whether in corporate, church, or at home.
Somewhere along the line, we become arrogant or develop a misunderstanding of who truly owns our gifts. I know this happened after receiving my Master's in Human Resources while working at a consulting firm. I knew this for sure:
I was in the right industry, but the wrong function
I was good, I mean fantastic at what I did
I had a story worth telling, and people listened
My perspectives were creative, relatable, and applicable
I became so caught up in pursuing what God said that I stopped seeking him and started trying to bring it to fruition in my strength. I took and ran what God told me and left him behind. This arrogance and entitlement took me on a journey of reevaluating not just my prayers but the posture of my prayers.
I forgot who my gifts truly belonged to
I forgot what the purpose of my skills was
I became so caught up in striving for the culture that I neglected to ensure I was executing with excellence on behalf of the kingdom.
Find out your talents and gifting and invest your whole time into perfecting them and becoming the best of yourself."
― Sunday Adelaja,
How did this affect my business? I experienced no growth, creativity was a struggle to come by, and my home environment wasn't the best because I neglected to honor God with my skills. I remember leaving an I volunteered for; as I was driving, I thought of two things?
God, you know I could've done that. I do that
Why wasn't I selected to sit on the panel and pour? I mean, I could've done that, I do that.
God response:
I will not give you a stage until you're ready to serve
Let's say the remaining ride was quiet. I had to sit and be silent because I wanted the stage for all the wrong reasons, and God was not going to expose me or put me on any stage and put me in the spotlight, although he gave me the gift if they were not to bring him glory ultimately. See, we can sit around and fool the world, but we cannot fool God, and he will constantly be examining our heart posture to make sure that it is in alignment with his will.
When you see me showing up, know it's not in my strength. I had to go through a pruning process of dethroning :
entitlement
competition
comparison
arrogance
I also go through a refining process; this process is to prune my posture, develop my skills, and even experience trials that allow my faith, posture, and motives to be purified.
and understanding that these are gifts from God, and I must include him every step of the way, not take his plan and try to hijack his plans.