Your Unique Gifts and Talents

Did you know that God made you unique from everyone else?

A while back, as part of my daily devotions, I was reminded of this – Just like the psalmist espouses in Psalm 139:14 “I am His unique creation, filled with wonder and awe.” (The Voice)

Other translations emphasise the fact that we are “fearfully and wonderfully made“,  and the Common English Bible says that “I was marvelously set apart.”

Which obviously brings with it many challenges in life. Especially when it pertains to our faith and the fact that being set apart means living with a higher standard, being devoted to God, and following His ways instead of the worldly ways.

This is something that the Apostle Paul was alluding to when writing to the Church of Rome “Do not become like the people who belong to this world. But let God completely change the way that you think, so that you live differently. Then you will understand what God wants you to do. You will know what is good. You will know what pleases God. You will know what is completely right.”
Romans 12:2 (Easy English Bible)

And when I think on these things and the fact that I have been saddled with a rare incurable autoimmune disease (Scleroderma) that manifests itself in a myriad of different ways, which are unique to the individual – I am left wondering about my uniqueness and to be honest I am in awe.

I like the psalmist give thanks “because I have been so amazingly and miraculously made.” And when I look around at His other creations and even the world around me I recognise that His “works are miraculous, and my soul [becomes even more] fully aware of this.”
Refer to Psalm 139:14 (God’s Word Translation)

The thing is, your uniqueness is not necessarily visible to everyone else. It is not as if you will stand out, but it is important that you know who you are and that you are different, unique.

And we all need to remember that, “Being different isn’t a bad thing. It means you’re brave enough to be yourself.” (Luna Lovegood)

After all we each need to “recognize and honour our uniqueness.”
(Sri Sri Ravi Shankar)

As I was recently exploring aspects of Interstitial Lung Disease and its management in Scleroderma I was struck by the fact that ‘the interstitium when it is stretched out is as big as a tennis court.’

This got me exploring other interesting facts about aspects of the human body that are also just as mind-blowing such as; ‘if you flattened out the entire small intestine it would have roughly the same surface area of a football field.‘

Also, ‘if you were to lay out all of the arteries, capillaries and veins in one adult, end-to-end, they would stretch about 60,000 miles (100,000 kilometers). What’s more, the capillaries, which are the smallest of the blood vessels, would make up about 80 percent of this length.‘

Having Scleroderma has definitely opened my eyes to the complexities of the human body and our individual uniqueness. No two cases of Scleroderma are the same. It has also extended my awareness of the awesomeness of God’s creation not just us as humans, but the world in which we live, and how we interact within it and with others.

You see, I’m not only in awe of God’s creation from a health perspective, but also my personal contribution to the world, how I live my life, the impact I am having on the world and those around me, my unique giftings, my abilities, talents, passions and skills etc. etc.

The thing is, there are abilities that I have that many people do not. There are talents and skills that I have in areas that others do not have. The same can be said for my giftings, as I believe that God has imparted the unique mix for me to be able to use for His glory. And my passions stem from who I am, not anybody else, and what it is that I believe God has called me to.

The same can be said for you! God made you and I unique, special, a one of a kind – And God did this so that you and I could use the life including our giftings, abilities, talents, passions and skills etc. He gave us to serve Him and others.

Since God designed us with these unique things and empowers us through the Holy Spirit dwelling within us, He intends for us to use them to serve and love others.

Another place God gifts us is in our life experiences. All of us have unique life experiences that give us the knowledge to help others.

“Our uniqueness, our individuality, and our life experience mold us into fascinating beings.” (Linda Thompson)

You have probably experienced this in your own life. Has anyone ever gone out of their way to help you, provide unique knowledge, or assist you in a difficult task? They were using their distinct gifts, abilities, talents, passions and skills etc. and life experiences to serve God by serving others.

What gifts or talents has God given you?

Do you have unique skills and abilities that others do not have? What are they?

What drives you?

What are you passionate about and why?

What life experiences have you had that others can learn from?

In what ways can you influence and inspire those that you interact with?

Why not make a list of these things, and spend some time thinking about who you can help, and who can help you understand and develop these things further.

The thing is, our giftings, abilities, talents, passions and skills etc. are God’s free gifts to us that we are to use to serve and love others.

We each need to celebrate our uniqueness, we need to explore what drives us, how we are wired and what makes us tick. For our uniqueness makes us special.

“Trusting your individual uniqueness challenges you to lay yourself open.”
(James Broughton)

This is something I have learnt as I coach and mentor others on my own health and faith journey.

At Spiramentum Ministries we’ve come to recognise that we can all get so busy doing a myriad of stuff in our lives, some of which is exhilarating and uplifting. While there are also times when it seems as if that same stuff is draining the very life out of us.

We’ve become increasingly aware that every week, month and year we each need to take time out of our busy schedules to rest, relax, refocus, and rejuvenate our bodies, minds and souls.

Tragically, we often don’t allow ourselves the time and space to do self-assessments so that we can better understand how we are wired and how we tick.

Therefore, we aim to assist people to focus on creating time and space in their lives to do this and to breathe.

We can assist you to break through difficult barriers, accept change, focus on forgiveness and realise that you have an ultimate purpose to fulfill on this earth, utilising your unique giftings, abilities, talents, passions and skills etc. We can also help you in setting a better course for your life, and enable you to experience life in all its fullness.

If this sounds like something you’d be interested in, get in touch with us through Facebook, LinkedIn, or via email: perry.pacpe@gmail.com.

Blessings ’til next time 🙂

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Use Your Influence for Good

Today’s word of encouragement comes from Rick Warren’s Monday Encouragement, which is part of the Pastors.com ministry, whose passion is driven by the desire to see healthy pastors leading healthy churches.

Pastors.com is a place for Christian leaders to connect, so they have put together a flowing stream of content to nourish and enrich the lives and leadership of Pastors worldwide. They’ve also created a dynamic community where church leaders can draw encouragement and wisdom from one another.

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Everything you have is a gift from God. God has given you your family, your health, your ministry, and even your freedom.

If God didn’t give you the ability to work for what you have, you wouldn’t have anything, and He expects you to be a good steward of everything He has given, including your influence. He wants you to use your influence to help others.

What is influence? It’s not fame. You can be famous and not influential. Many people know celebrities, but they don’t care what they think. It’s also not wealth. You can’t buy influence.

The Cambridge Dictionary defines influence as the power “to affect how someone or something develops, behaves, or thinks.” God expects you to use that kind of influence for good.

How can you do that? Start with these three steps.

1. Recognize your influence.

Everyone has influence. You’re likely aware of some of your own influence at church and at home.

Yet you might not be aware of all the influence you have. You influence everyone you come into contact with, such as your relatives, neighbors, and even casual acquaintances.

When you go into a store, you can make or break the cashier’s day by what you say and do. The same is true for mail carriers, ushers, and salespeople you meet as you go about your day.

You either influence people for Christ or against Christ all the time.

God calls us to be good stewards of every kind of influence we have.

Paul writes, “Make a careful exploration of who you are and the work you have been given, and then sink yourself into that”

Galatians 6:4 (The Message).

Until you can clearly see the influence you already have, you can’t begin to wield and maximize your influence for good.

2. Exercise your influence.

Our lives would have much more influence if we’d become more intentional in how we use it. Your influence is like a muscle. You’ll either use it or lose it.

These five actions can help you use your influence and slowly grow it. They start small with simple actions and progress to more difficult actions. The final one may even cost you your life one day. The more effort you put in, the greater your influence will be. 

• Smile at people.

Anyone can do this. Smiling has an incredible impact on the people in your life. When you smile at someone, they smile at you. That means you’ve influenced them and affected their day.

• Sympathize with people.

Show emotional support, encouragement, and care in people’s lives. When you show people you care, you open the door for influence within their life.

• Serve people. 

God’s economy says the greater you serve someone, the greater influence you have on them. Serving people takes effort because you can’t do it from a distance.

• Speak up.

Psalm 107:2 reminds us, “Let the redeemed of the Lord say so” (King James Version). To influence others, you can’t be afraid of talking openly about your relationship with Christ.

• Sacrifice. 

You can’t live a comfortable life if you want to have influence. You’ll need to make sacrifices to influence the world. While this can mean huge, life-altering sacrifices, it often means everyday sacrifices in the normal activities of life.

3. Maximize your influence.

Do your best to develop and expand your influence. At first, that might seem arrogant, but you aren’t expanding your influence for your own sake. God himself tells us to maximize our influence.

The Bible says, “Make good use of every opportunity you have, because these are evil days” Ephesians 5:16 (Good News Translation).

Instead of being selfish, you’re expanding your influence for Jesus’ sake. That’s the only reason you’re on earth. Otherwise, He’d take you straight to heaven when you get saved.

You only have two legitimate reasons to expand your influence—to help people and to share Christ with others. Any other reason is selfishness.

After I wrote The Purpose Driven Life, I started getting more attention. I never wanted to become a celebrity, so I began praying: “Lord, what do you want me to do with this influence?”

That’s when God brought Psalm 72 to my mind. Solomon prayed this when he was the wealthiest and wisest person in the world. It sounds arrogant for him to then pray for more power and influence. But Solomon’s prayer is anything but selfish.

Notice what Solomon wants to do with his influence. He wants to help society’s most vulnerable. He prays, “He will help the poor when they cry out and will save the needy when no one else will help. He will be kind to the weak and poor, and he will save their lives” Psalm 72:12-13 (New Century Version).

God expects us to use the influence He has given us to speak up for those who can’t speak up for themselves.

You might not think you have much influence right now. You feel you’re serving in the middle of nowhere and your impact is limited.

That couldn’t be further from the truth. Remember, the story of Moses. He was an ordinary shepherd on the backside of the desert. But when God told him to give up his staff – the source of his identity, income, and influence as a shepherd – Moses obeyed.

Throughout the rest of Moses’ life God used that same staff to do miracles, like turning the water of the Nile into blood and splitting the Red Sea.

Moses gave what little he had to God, so that he could influence the world for good and for God. The world was never the same again.

Are you ready to lay down everything to use your influence for God?

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All of us to some degree have an influence in the lives of others and Henry Cloud has recognised that we each “have a responsibility to [use it for the benefit of those that we come in contact with so that they can] be the best possible people they can be.” Whether we are aware of it or not – we are either inspiring other people to be better, or not.

What do you bring to the room?

The Inspiration Test can help you discover what happens when you enter the room, whether you mostly breathe hope, capacity, or resilience into the lives of others, and how you can become a more inspired and inspiring person.

From the test an inspiration profile is created that sheds light onto the ways that you uniquely influence the people around you. Bringing your attention to the very real positive impact you can have on others through your personal inspiration strength.

If you’d like to find out more about the Inspiration Test and the coaching process drop me a line via email, make an enquiry here, or leave a comment below – I’d be more than willing to let you know what is involved and relevant costs etc. 🙂

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Transactional v’s Transformational Relationships

Today’s Word of Encouragement comes from a colleague and good friend of mine in the ministry, pastor Hamish Thomson of Abundant Life Church, Wellington.

“The way of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, which shines ever brighter until the full light of day.” Proverbs 4:18 (New Living Translation)

Transactional v’s Transformational Relationships

One of my ‘life verses’ this year is Proverbs 4:18 and the call of God for those who love him to live in ways that light up the lives of others like a hot summer’s day.

You see, when it comes to the way we live, I think our relationships with people fall into one of two categories: transformational or transactional.

Most of our relationships are transactional. They are friendly, they are respectful, they are helpful, but they are superficial. That’s why when you’re at work and someone asks you, “how are you?” you answer, “I’m fine” – even if you’re not. Transactional relationships are safe, but they don’t build people up the way transformational relationships do.

Transformational relations are about bringing out the best in others. They are the type of relationships where you are committed to the well-being or the good of others, even if there’s nothing in it for you! There’s no transaction, no balanced ‘give and take’, no ‘what do I get out of this’, no scorekeeping: just a desire to build up and prosper the other person.

And here’s the thing. The people who have had the biggest influence in your life have been transformational types of people, not transactional. They lived and engaged you in ways that inspired you and lit up your life like a hot summer’s sun! So now it’s your turn.

Now it’s your turn to see people as people and not objects. To go beyond the superficial and start investing in others.

Start small, but be intentional. Start by resisting seeing work colleagues as rivals or burdens, instead choosing to see them as equals. Start calling out the potential in others and fan it into flame.

Because as you start taking steps to be more transformational, however small those step may be, they will grow from being like “the first gleam of dawn” to become like “the full light of day” in the lives of others!

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