In the previous post, I shared that our talents, skills, and abilities are all gifts from God. “Gifts,” meaning that we did nothing to receive them. While I believe these were given to us to enable us to accomplish the work before us, I also believe they were entrusted to us to use as “gifts” to others.

Since that might sound very confusing, let me insert an example.

“Jessica’s” talents, skills, and abilities are in the area of athletics. Her competitive drive makes her a great team player and outstanding athlete. Because this is a natural component of her life, she filters the activities of her life through the sieve of fitness, healthy eating, and training her mind and body for success.

Because our imaginary friend Jessica has developed her natural skills, she chooses something in the fitness realm as her vocation, and becomes a Physical Education teacher at Riverside High School. Her girls’ basketball team wins the state championship three years in a row, and it’s easy to see she is using her skills, talents, and abilities to their fullest.

The scenario above demonstrates how she uses her gifts. Now let’s see how Jessica gifts her gifts.

As a woman of faith, Jessica knows that because Christ told His disciples in reference to their gifts, “freely you received, freely give” (Matthew 10:8), she is to do the same thing with her gifts. She hears friends saying they are struggling with their weight, particularly because of their desk jobs and sedentary lifestyle. Jessica uses her skills and gives the gift of one hour each Thursday night to teach a fitness class at her church. Half of the class time is about total body, mind, and heart fitness, and the other half is 30 minutes of exercise.

With her busy schedule, it would be easy for Jessica to dread this hour each week. But because she is truly a cheerful giver, she does not do it “grudgingly or of necessity” (II Corinthians 9:7). She is using her gifts as gifts!

So what gifts have you been given in the form of talents, skills, and abilities? How are you “gifting” those gifts? If you are not currently “freely giving,” pray about a way that you can use those abilities to be a blessing to others. The summer months provide a great time for taking a few minutes each week to give time to others!

To encourage you along these lines, I am announcing a free giveaway!

By the end of the day of Sunday, June 10th, please email me one or two sentences telling me how you are choosing to gift your gifts this summer. EVERYONE has something to give to others! To help you on your way, my next post will give you a gazillion ideas! (Okay, fine, maybe not a gazillion, but there will be MANY!)

The email address is petalsfromthebasket (at) gmail (dot) com – (Obviously all of these words and symbols go together in normal email format, but I do not want to attract spammers!)

The winner will be selected via a random drawing from all the email entries received. ONLY EMAIL ENTRIES WILL BE ENTERED INTO THE DRAWING. (No Facebook comments or comments to blog posts will be counted as entries.)

Oh wait, I forgot the important part! A friend of mine has donated a $25.00 gift card to Amazon as the prize!!! Now THAT’s a prize. You can buy just about ANYTHING on Amazon!

Can’t wait to start getting those emails! Even if you don’t enter the giveaway . . . gift those gifts!

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Thank you for taking time to read “…Freely Give.” Please feel free to leave a comment or question.