Passion

Over the course of the last few years, I have become passionate about several different ideas and principles. My next few blogs will unpack 5 of these passions and the reason behind why I feel so strongly about each of them.

Passion #1: Operating out of your God given gifts

I remember the first time someone told me that I was gifted in the area of encouragement. It was the summer of 2006 and I was participating in Campus Crusade for Christ's Summer Discipleship Program in Branson, MO. My good friend David Dunn was leading worship for the program that summer and we spent many days at the Taco Bell across the street from the hotel where we lived. On one particular day, while we were waiting in the Taco Bell drive thru, Dave looked at me and said something that I will never forget. He simply said, "James, you are the most encouraging person I've ever met." I thanked him for the kind words and we moved on with our conversation.

Later that night I read a verse in Romans that shook me up in an incredible way. Romans 12:6-8 states, "We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man's gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully."

If I were to paraphrase this set of verses it would read something like this, "You have each been given unique gifts, so USE them!" These verses give us such a simple, yet powerful command.

Up until this point in my life, I was naturally an encouraging person...it's how God uniquely gifted me. Dave's statement to me on this particular day, however, turned me from a NATURAL encourager to an INTENTIONAL encourager. You see, before this day I had absolutely no idea that the words I spoke gave life to people. I simply spoke encouraging words every now and then because it was natural for me to do so. I had no idea it was a unique gift that was given to me by our Creator for the purpose of building up and empowering the people in my life.

The second I read the above mentioned verse and coupled it with the words that Dave spoke to me earlier that day, something inside me changed. In that moment I realized that God had tasked me with a massive responsibility. I now knew that it was part of my purpose to intentionally encourage and affirm the people God placed around me, empowering them to operate out of their God given giftedness.

I immediately put this new revelation into practice and the results were mesmerizing. I began telling specific friends what I saw in them and as a result I saw them using their gifts more and more. Friends that were naturally servant hearted, generous, and compassionate began serving more, giving bigger, and loving deeper.

The heart behind this entire post is to say 2 things:

According to Scripture, each and every one of you have been gifted by the God of the Universe. Spend some time today to think and pray about what gifts you've been given. After you've done this, start intentionally using those gifts to bless the people around you. There is no reason why we should be withholding our gifts from the world...they were given to us for a reason!

Secondly, I want to ask you all to be someone's "Dave" today. There is at least one positive characteristic in every single person with whom you interact. I challenge you to speak a life giving word to one of those individuals. Every time we see a positive quality and fail to acknowledge it to that person, we are robbing them of joy. Who in their right mind wants to be a joy robber?! You never know how much the words you speak can impact someone. So step away from the computer, pick up your phone, and tell someone the specific gifts you see in them...it may just change their life.

Let's change the world,
James