Gifts - Romans 12:6-8

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:05

Greetings once again and welcome to this session of the Signature Word Podcast. This is for the week of Monday, June 22nd, 2026. For this episode, our scripture will be taken from the book of Romans, chapter 12, verses 6 through 8. And the reading is from the reading is from the New Living Translation, where it says, In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well. So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out with as much faith as God has given you. If your gift is serving others, serve them well. If you are a teacher, teach well. If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging. If it is giving, give generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift of kindness to others, do it gladly. Today I want to talk about gifts. doctor Martin Luther King junior said the following in one of his speeches Even if it falls your lot to be a street sweeper, go out and sweep streets like Michelangelo painted pictures. Sweep streets like Handel and Beethoven composed music. Sweep streets like Shakespeare wrote poetry. Sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will have to pause and say here live the great street sweeper who swept his job well. If you can't be a pine on the top of a hill, be a scrub in the valley, but be the best little scrub on the side of the hill. Be a bush if you can't be a tree. If you can't be a highway, just be a trail. If you can't be the sun, be a star. It isn't by size that you win or fail. Be the best of whatever you are. Wow. Here in our text in Romans it says that God has given different gifts for doing certain things well. Now this says two important things. First, that God is the giver of these gifts. Does it not make sense that God who created you in his image has also instilled within each member of his creation the capacity for greatness in some measure? Secondly, not all have the same gift. The beauty of a rose is very different from the beauty of a tree, yet each is framed according to the exquisite laws of nature. God has so framed us this way. He has called each of us to reach beyond the roadblocks and find what we do best, to find that one thing in our life that screams, that you cannot shake, and that less you know, this is why I am here. So now I would like to leave you by recapping the following. First, all gifts and talents come from God, the giver of all that is good. Secondly, not everyone has the same gift. Your gift is just that it's yours. Don't give in to the temptation to duplicate or imitate someone else. Just be you. After all, the world has enough copycats. three, dedicate your gift to God's service and not solely for your own personal gain. And number four, be willing to use your gift generously. Make a difference in the lives of others. And number five, embrace life's challenges as you discover the one thing you were created to do best. Amen. And our weekly signature thought today you have the opportunity to be what you were not yesterday and what the world and others need you to be tomorrow. May God bless you.