Assigned

“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.” James 1:17

 Every believer has assignments. Jesus left us instructions to go and tell the Gospel message and teach others God’s commands. The moment you surrendered your life to Christ, God’s Holy Spirit provided you with at least one spiritual gift to help build up His Church: the ability to give wise advice or a message of unique knowledge; great faith; the power to heal or perform miracles; ability to prophesy, discern God’s message from that of another spirit or speak in or interpret unknown languages (1 Corinthians 12:4–11). Each of God’s gifts is necessary for His Church to function effectively.

Can you perceive God’s will? Do you enjoy serving or encouraging others, researching and communicating God’s Word, or freely giving your time and resources? Are you a “natural-born” leader and organizer? Are you compassion-driven for people in need? These are called motivational gifts (Romans 12:6–8). These tendencies don’t happen “by chance;” they were God-appointed.

God-given talents: Do you have a beautiful singing voice, carpentry, plumbing, cooking, or sewing skills without formal training? Are you known as a “Jack-of-all-trades?” Are you good at working with numbers? All of God’s gifts are good and vital to His Church. But even though we serve in His gifts, for His glory, and care for the needy yet lack love for one another, Paul says we are only a loud noise (1 Corinthians 13:1).

Diverse types of people are beneficial to the body of Christ. You may be one of the “people gifts” Jesus appointed after He ascended to His Father: apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers to equip the saints for ministry and the building up of the Church (Ephesians 4:11–13).

Just as the human body has distinct parts, believers are uniquely part of God’s Church. He gifted us for His divine purposes; He made no mistakes, and God does not change His mind. Our mission is to lovingly minister in unity with our gifts, talents, and skills in His name as His eyes, mouth, hands, and feet. God gave us our assignments—are we doing our “homework?”