Talents

Yesterday, I had a chat with a friend and was telling him how gifted he was at making people feel welcome, easily friendly and how good he was at networking. I told him that was a gift. He looked at me shocked and was like, “it is no big deal”

I saw a problem and will like to address it in today’s post. Many think of their talents or gifts as “no big deal”. Some too think it is just part of their natural makeup so they assume everybody else have it or operate like that

In this post, my objective is to let you know everybody walking on this earth has at least one gift. It is said we are 7.6 billion people today. Two things you should know: none of us have the same fingerprint and everyone, yes! I mean everyone is talented or gifted. I will be using the words “gift” & “talent” synonymously since they are the same

I just checked my dictionary app on my phone for talent and saw nine definitions but will go with the first one as “a special natural ability or aptitude”. My question to you this morning as I write is what is your natural ability? What do you do with so much ease & no supervision? Please pay attention to it

“So I ask you to make full use of the gift God gave you when I placed my hands on you. Use it well.” 2 Timothy‬ ‭1:6‬ ‭CEV‬‬

The context of this story was Paul, a mentor to Timothy was instructing him on how to be a good pastor over the church he had established. Throughout history, they had walked together and for the first time he will be there alone and also at the helm of affairs- pastoring a church in Paul’s absence. It must have been very daunting and intimidating for him. Paul had to write to tell him to make full use of his gift God has given. It was likely Timothy had certain gift(s) which were compatible with his trade in pastoring which he didn’t know

I see problems or barriers to why people don’t use their gifts. The first thing is they don’t know. This is where a mentor comes in. One of the roles of a mentor is to point you in the direction of your strongest tendency to develop. May I suggest everybody needs a mentor- someone ahead of you in your field to look up to for experience, tutelage and guidance among many. I am very sure Paul had seen Timothy do some things with ease, displayed certain qualities and habits which made Paul concluded “he is gifted”. A good mentor will encourage and give you a platform to shine on to display your talents. A bad mentor will see you as his or her rival in competition and will do everything to erode your confidence in yourself and your gifting by abusing you. Please, with caution, be very discriminate, picky and discerning in your choice of a mentor

The second thing is people despise what they have. They don’t consider it a gift. We are gifted in many ways and expressions. I don’t have to have the same gift as yours. The problem arises when we compare our gifts with our neighbor’s. I have seen people say things like, “it’s only cooking”. They will respect their gift, say, if it was public speaking. Never label a gift big or small, superior or inferior, important or unimportant. What you should know is: Every gift is God given. It pains me time and time again to see people despise their gifts because they don’t deem it as important or will make one’s life count by comparing it to others

The third barrier is shyness. Some have discovered their talent but are just too timid to express their gifting or do anything about it. Do you fall into that category? You may be a gifted writer but fear writing because of readership, a great cook but fear your dishes will not be patronized, a gifted orator but fear you won’t make sense when you speak and will not have an audience, a great and an extraordinary sweeper but fear the backlash and mockery of calling it a gift. Please, why are you reading my blog instead of me reading yours? So are you going to die with all this talent not giving it expression? How long are you going to be timid? The root to shyness is fear. Fearful people are timid! The antidote to shyness is the love of God. The love of God causes you to be bold and rise above limitations. I pray for you as you read this article that may you experience THIS LOVE to break free out of the confines of timidity

Please take your talent seriously. Let your gift so shine to bring glory to God! Let your gift so shine that you make one’s life count! Let it so shine that you can be a blessing to humanity. It is so gratifying to know you are making a life better by your gift of service

Till we meet again…

Peace & Love