Learning to be His Salt and Light: Hoarding Talents

I must admit my church attendance has been failing the last few weeks, but the last sermon I heard was about "hoarding". Pastor talked about how keeping your gifts (spiritual gifts) to yourself is a form of hoarding. This thought never occurred to me. Usually, I LOVE to bake and make things for other people. This winter and spring has really taken a toll on our health...flu, pneumonia, bronchitis, intestinal virus...you name it. I actually stopped cooking for my own family so I could just rest (and breathe!).

Praise the Lord! After weeks of resting I'm feeling much better and the kids are destroying the house again. This week God really pressed on me to help someone that I barely know. Turns out she really does need help. Both she and her husband lost their jobs and it's been hard just to put food on the table. After a day of feeling I must help this family, I found out that another friend has already started. God has put it on quite a few hearts to help this family. That was a really big "ah ha!" moment for me.

Romans says "We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man's gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully." Romans 12:6-8

God has given each of us gifts to help each other. If we ignore the nagging in our hearts and minds, then we are "hoarding" what God has given to us. We are not allowing Christ to live through us. I'm not saying you have knock down people's door to see who needs some baked goods, but if you know your spiritual gift, use it to the best of your abilities. You might be a good listener, musician, baker, babysitter, worker, cleaner, gardener or whatever your talent. Open your heart and mind to when and how God provides for you to use your talent.

A little reminder...and this took me MONTHS to finally realize. Sometimes God does call us to rest and heal. He had to make that very plain to me and it took weeks for my body to recover and my strength to return. However, now I feel that my time for rest has passed and I'm back into the "season" of baking for my family and others.