The Hands of the Servant
Brian Cox

            I believe that God has given each of us gifts, talents or abilities that we can use to glorify Him. God did not give us all the same gift; in fact our gifts differ rather dramatically. I have yet to find a passage of scripture that tells us that one gift or ability is greater than another. In fact Paul goes to great lengths in 1 Corinthians 12:12-26 to convince us that this diversity in gifts when we gather as the body of Christ actually makes us stronger. Paul also describes how each part of the body, when using the gifts God has given them, is important. There can be no hierarchy of gifts in the body of Christ. Yet for years I have seen us value some gifts above others. Generally it would appear that we tend to value gifts that are practiced in front of others as being the most important. Things like leading in worship, preaching or teaching are seen as being more important than gifts that no one but God sees. I am not saying that preaching, teaching or leading in worship is unimportant, I am not saying that there may be other gifts that are more important, I am saying that God does not measure that way and neither should we. Any service that benefits the body of Christ is to be appreciated.
            "For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands" (2 Timothy 1:6 NIV). God gives us gifts, abilities or talents that he wants us to use to glorify him and benefit those around us. These gifts are not given to us in full flame but as tiny embers that we fan into flame through using the gifts and through training. Which means that we may not be very good at something the first time we try it, but through practice and training we will see our gifts grow.
            "For it is by grace that you have been saved through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God –not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do" (Ephesians 2:8-10 NIV).
            We are saved to serve, not saved because of our service. It is impossible for us to earn our way into a relation‑ship with God. We cannot earn heaven! We are saved by grace through faith. Grace is the unmerited or undeserved favour of God. God doesn't force us to accept his grace, we have a choice, and we can either accept it or reject it. We show that we want to receive grace through our faith. James tells us in James 2:14-26 that faith does not exist in the absence of works. If we believe, we will always act on that belief. That is not to say that these works can save us, or somehow qualify us, or help us to earn God's favour. The works simply illustrate our faith, they make our faith real.
            We are not saved by works. Salvation is not from ourselves or anything we have done, do or will do. Salvation is a gift from God. Since we are not saved by works there is no reason for boast‑ing. This passage shows us how well God knows us, if we could earn even a small part of our salvation, we would be bragging and boasting about all we do for God and the church.
            Ephesians 2:10 says that we are God's workmanship; some scholars believe that this phrase could be translated "we are the crowning achievement of God's creative work." God created us to work. He created us with a need to work a need that will never be met until we are serving God and others. Ephesians 2:10 tells us that God created the work ahead of time for us to do. Since God created us with the need to work and created the work ahead of time that he wants us to do, should
we not also trust that he will give us the abilities necessary to do this work?
We are given the exciting job of discovering these gifts. This is not some‑thing that we do only at a young age; we continue to discover gifts throughout our entire lives.
            I offer the following questions to help you discover your gifts, the ways in which you can serve God and others.

1. What do you enjoy doing that you believe you do well? You may discover gifts in things that you don't really enjoy doing. You may even discover gifts in things that you didn't do too well the first few times. Yet I think this is a good place to start.
2. What abilities do you have that you believe could be improved in with training and experience?
3. What are your strengths? We have a difficult time listing our strengths. We can identify our weaknesses and faults much easier. It is important so spend a few moments listing your strengths.
4. What is your passion? What is it that you really care about? Too often we get involved with projects that bore us. Get involved with work that really gets you going. Get involved with ministry that, if it should fail, would cause you to lose a few nights sleep.
5. What motivates you? Some respond to needs that they will seek to meet; others are motivated by problems that they seek to solve. Some like a predictable routine in their work while others like a day packed full of surprises.
6. Do you enjoy working with people or would you rather work alone? Please realize that there is no right or wrong answer here just personal preference. There are certainly both opportunities to work alone and to serve with others in the body of Christ, for many it is not either or but a mixture of both.

            To discover your gifts you must be willing to take risks. There are so many opportunities where even if you have a good natural talent and have received some training you still will not be very good the first time. Be willing to risk both yourself and your reputation as you seek to discover your gifts. I pray that God will bless you as you seek to serve him and his people.