Leadership: Spiritual Gift Series

   Are you someone who in a group setting will take the lead if no one else does? Leadership is the next spiritual gift listed in the Romans 12 list. To lead is to guide others. There's a long list of good leaders in the Bible but to name a few: Moses, Joshua, Deborah, David, Nehemiah, Esther, Daniel, John the Baptist, Peter, and Paul all were diligent leaders.

   What makes a good leader? That's a question that people may all answer differently. Some people may say a good leader is charismatic, doesn't let power go to their head, distributes tasks but does their fair share, cares for others, cooperates, listens, etc. That list could go on and on. This is why I think being a leader is so hard. You have the spotlight on you a lot and all it takes is one wrong move and you get blamed for it all. 

   I don't think we truly understand leadership until we need to lead. Even if you don't consider yourself to have the gift of leadership I'm sure you've been called upon to lead something at least once in your life. If you have, you understand the weight it can be. You may even go home at the end of it and wonder if you did a good job. 

   The truth is we cannot please everyone. But good leaders have a good example in Christ. He led others and not everyone liked him. He followed God and was sinless and some people hated him. This can be comforting when we realize that people are not always going to like what we do in leadership either if we are following Christ. 

   But there's one type of leader that we haven't discussed yet that I think is the hardest: servant leadership. Jesus was this but we can also see servant leadership in a character like Captain America. A servant leader is in the trenches with his followers. He doesn't just talk the talk; he walks the walk. If he asks his people to dig a hole, he is also there shoveling with them. A servant leader also takes responsibility for the whole group. If someone messes up on their watch, the servant leader owns up to it if someone else points it out because it happened on their watch. That doesn't mean the servant leader doesn't talk with the person who messed up in a calm and caring manner, it means the leader takes the blame for it because he is responsible for his followers. 

   That's what it is to have the gift of leadership. It's a heavy gift to have but a necessary one.

   So do you know anyone who has the gift of leadership? How can you encourage a leader you know today?

Giving: Spiritual Gift Series

   Have you ever got a gift for someone and you were so excited to give that gift to them because you knew they would love it? Have you ever felt that way about giving to God? If you have, perhaps you have the next spiritual gift in the Romans 12 list: giving. Some examples of people who had this gift in the Bible were Dorcas, the Macedonia Church, and Boaz.

   When you think of giving what do you usually think about? If you said money then you are probably like most people, myself included. Yes, giving money to the church is one thing we are called to do as Christians. Though, many of us struggle with that, myself included at times. We are called to give tithes which is to be 10% of our income. This is hard for some of us, especially with how the economy is. It's easy to look at our needs and wants, think about how much it all costs, and to say "I don't have enough to give to God." But that's cheating God who was the one who gave you that money in the first place.

   The people who have the gift of giving do it freely, joyfully, and trust God to provide. They don't go up and give their gifts while complaining or grumbling. Instead they see a need and fill it trusting God to do the rest. 

   Giving is also more than just money. If you have the gift of giving you also may give your time and talents to God. Some people are gifted at fixing things so they do work around the church. They volunteer for teaching classes or help with the technology for service. Again, they do it without complaining or expecting a thank you in return. They know that God sees what they do in secret and will reward them. Even if he doesn't, these people trust that God is with them as they give of their time and money. 

   So, do you know anyone with the gift of giving? How can you trust God more and give back to him?

Encouraging: Spiritual Gift Series

   When you feel upset or down, what do you wish people would do for you? If you said, "encourage me" then you also just answered what the next spiritual gift is in Romans 12. People who have this gift offer comfort to others, especially when those people are going through a hard time. Some examples of people who encouraged others in the Bible were Barnabas, Jonathan, Ruth, and Deborah. 

   Encouragement can look different depending on whom you are trying to encourage. Some people just need to be held to be encouraged. Others could use a kind word or just someone being there for them. This can go into the five love languages. I've found that there is typically one common cord of encouragement in almost any situation: God's word.

   True, God's word is offensive to some. Some non-belivers may not like what it says. But I've found if someone is down, and you are not shoving the Bible down their throat, they are more open to hearing God's word if you've already shown you care about them. That doesn't mean you just pull out your Bible and begin reading. It means you can give them the message of the word without necessarily giving them the reference. If this encourages them and they ask where you found that wisdom, you can tell them.

   I cannot count how many times I have either encouraged someone with God's word or someone has encouraged me with it. Sometimes it's nice to have a reminder that we are not alone. Someone out there cares enough about what we are going through to take the time to encourage us. That's all it takes sometimes: a note saying, "I'm thinking about you" can make a huge difference. That's something we all can do, even if we feel we don't have this spiritual gift.

   So, do you know anyone with the gift of encouragement? How can you encourage someone each day?