On Stewardship and the Orthodox Life - Part 125: Have We Discovered Our Gifts (12/18/16)

“But each has his own special gift from God, one of one kind and one of another.”  (1 Corinthians 7:7 RSV)

We have talked a lot about the gifts God has given us.  Have we unwrapped those gifts?  I recently heard a sermon where the priest made the analogy of the gifts God gives us with those that may have been received at a wedding shower or marriage or some other celebration and forgot to open them until years later when they were discovered in the basement, still in the original wrapping.   We say, “OH, that is where that has been!”

Do we do the same with the gifts that God has given us?  Do we forget to unwrap them and wonder why God has forsaken us?  I would submit that many of us are afraid to unwrap the gifts He has given us because we would then be committed to God, to do His will.  Many of us do not want to do that, do we?  We want to live our secular lives with all the luxuries that it brings and profess our religious life for two hours on Sunday or a feast day.

The gifts that God has so generously given to us is not for living in luxury.  The gifts are to provide for the necessities of life and to use the excess to help those less fortunate.  That means making a commitment to God! Isn’t that what Orthodoxy is all about?  I would challenge anybody to show me in Scripture or the writings of the Holy Fathers where it says, “Use all that God gives you to live in luxury and let the less fortunate worry about themselves!” 

If you haven’t discovered the gifts that God has given you to help others, dig deep into the basement of your soul.  There you will find those gifts and say, “OH, that is where you have been!”

This weekly series of brief thoughts on stewardship and Orthodox life is brought to you by your Diocesan Stewardship Commission.

Mark Your Calendar Now for the 2nd annual Stewardship Retreat will be held September 22-24, 2017.

Related Blog Articles