Gifts that God Has Given Me
1 Samuel 17: 33-38 | 1 Peter 4:10-11 | Romans 12:6-8
My friend, Amanda, shared a devotional with me this morning, and I feel like it came at just the right moment! The past few weeks I have felt the loud calling that I really need to share my gifts with the church. And that sounds absolutely crazy because I always question it like, what can I do to serve in the church? I doubt myself so much, even though I know that I have the ability to offer. But I still don’t encourage myself enough to be more vocal about what I actually do have to offer. Which leads me to this whole blog post this morning!
Amanda’s ceaseless faithfulness and constant encouragement through the word has just absolutely lit a fire inside me that I feel like I need to share louder.
I’m just an ordinary person, trusting that the Lord can turn my small moments into extraordinary reminders of His goodness. I believe our everyday lives can be beautiful testaments, too.
But today, I want to share something a little bit different: not what I’m waiting for, but the gifts I’ve already received.
Gift #1: The Gift of Creativity
From the time I was young, God planted in me a creative heart. I see His fingerprints when I paint, when I design, when I make something beautiful out of nothing. Whether it’s a brushstroke, a new jewelry piece, or a design for a small business, I realize these aren’t just hobbies: they’re gifts to reflect the grace of God himself!
Gift #2: The Gift of Words
Writing has always come so easy to me. I actually have a box of short stories that I drafted and hid away, starting from middle school. Lately, however, they’ve become a lifeline for me. Through this blog, I’ve discovered that words can carry healing, encouragement, and truth. It humbles me to think that God lets me be a vessel to share His Word with others, and that the overflow of my own wrestlings with Him might bring hope to someone else’s heart. Proverbs 25:11 reminds me: “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.”
Gift #3: The Gift of Service
I never want to overlook the quiet ways God lets me serve through graphic design, marketing, and virtual assistant work. It might not always feel “spiritual,” but when I use these skills to lift up others, I’m serving Him. In 2024, instead of processing my grief, I used my skills that I’d honed from owning a boutique to help other small businesses. After I realized that I was avoiding my grief, I stepped down from that role. Lately, I’ve slowly been working these roles back into my schedule. But I don’t want to just use these skills for profit: I want to use the skills and offer my services to the church because I want to help them grow. I want to help churches reach more people. But I’ll come back to this topic in a moment!
Gift #4: The Gift of Worship Through Expression
Perhaps the deepest thread in all of this is my longing to capture the emotion of worship and teaching. Whether I’m painting, writing, or leading through creativity, I want my work to be less about me and more about Him. I want every creation to be a reflection of Him, every note to point hearts upward, every story to end with Jesus at the center.
Gift #5: Using My Talents to Build the Church
Now, let’s go back and finish Gift #3: One of the most humbling realizations I’ve come to is that my gifts were never meant to stay in my hands alone. God entrusted them to me so I could pour them back into His Kingdom. The creativity He has placed in me, through design, writing, painting, and crafting, isn’t just for personal joy. It’s a way to help the church grow, flourish, and reach people I may never meet face-to-face.
When I design graphics for a sermon series or create content that helps a church connect with its community, I’m not just “doing marketing.” I’m amplifying the message of the gospel in a digital world where so many hearts are scrolling, searching for hope. When I write devotionals or Bible studies, I’m equipping others to dive into the Word of God, making it more accessible and relatable. Even something as simple as a flyer, a website update, or a social media post can become a bridge between someone lost and a God who longs to be found.
Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 12 about the body of Christ, that each member has a unique role to play. Some teach, some encourage, some lead, some serve quietly. I’ve realized my role often looks like supporting, amplifying, and beautifying the message. My brushstrokes, designs, and words may never stand at a pulpit, but they can extend the reach of the pulpit to places it could never go alone.
In a world where the church is often competing with countless voices and distractions, excellence in creativity and communication becomes a tool of evangelism. A well-designed image or a heartfelt devotional can catch someone’s eye long enough for God’s Spirit to catch their heart. That’s the sacred weight of using our talents well: they aren’t about drawing attention to us, they’re about pointing hearts to Him.
So, I pray over every piece of work I create for the church: Lord, let this not just be a post or a project. Let it be a seed of hope, a spark of faith, a vessel of truth. Use it to reach someone who desperately needs to hear Your name today.
If you know of any church that could benefit from my services, please don’t hesitate to reach out. These are the gifts the Lord has entrusted to me, and I’d be honored to offer them back to Him by serving this community.
Colossians 3:23 speaks directly into this: “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord.”
Take a few minutes and write down three gifts God has given you. They may seem ordinary (i.e., organizing, encouraging, cooking, teaching, creating), but in His hands, they are extraordinary. Claim them. And then ask yourself: How can I offer these gifts back to God in worship today?
Lord, thank You for the gifts You’ve given me: my creativity, my words, my ability to serve. Thank You for painting my life with talents that reflect Your heart. Help me to never overlook them or use them for myself alone, but to always pour them back at Your feet. Let every stroke of a brush, every word I write, every design I create, and every act of service be an offering of worship. May my gifts point to You, the Giver of all good things. Amen.
