This week’s devotions are based on Rooted – Week 6 “I am Called” (WATCH HERE)
“Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.”
1 Peter 4:10
God has called you personally, but he has never called you privately.
From the beginning, God’s plan has been bigger than any one person. Throughout Ephesians, Paul has reminded us that God is creating a people who belong to Christ. We are chosen together. We are brought near together. We are built together. We are the Church together.
That means your calling is connected to the calling of others.
Peter says, “Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others.” Notice that word received. The gifts you have are not ultimately something you created for yourself. They are gifts from God. And God gives those gifts with a purpose.
To serve others.
You may have abilities that seem ordinary to you. Perhaps you are good at organizing, listening, teaching, fixing things, encouraging people, welcoming others, working with children, preparing food, leading, creating, giving, or simply showing up when someone needs help. Because those abilities come naturally to you, you may not even think of them as gifts.
But God can use ordinary gifts in extraordinary ways.
Think about a body. Your hands, feet, eyes, ears, and heart all have different functions, yet none exists for itself. Each part contributes to the health of the whole. In the same way, God has placed each of us in the body of Christ with something to contribute.
You don’t have to do everything.
In fact, you can’t.
And you were never meant to.
Someone else has gifts you don’t have. Someone else may be able to reach a person you cannot reach. Someone else may have the words you don’t know how to say. Someone else may notice a need you would have missed.
And you have gifts that someone else needs too.
This is why Christian calling is personal, but not private. God doesn’t simply call us to accomplish our own individual purposes. He calls us into a family where our lives and gifts become blessings to one another.
Paul says in 1 Corinthians 12:27, “Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.”
There is great freedom in that truth. You don’t have to compare yourself with someone else. You don’t have to wish you had their gifts. You don’t have to prove that your contribution is important.
Simply ask, “How can God use what he has given me to serve someone else?”
That question can change the way you see your church, your family, your workplace, and your community.
Christ has called you.
He has given you gifts.
And he has placed you among people who need what you have been given.
As we live our calling together, Christ builds his Church through ordinary people faithfully serving one another.
Your calling matters. Their calling matters. And together, we belong to Christ.