I Peter 4:10 As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God
This spring I will be going to a couple of different graduations. One is a college graduation. The other is essentially a kindergarten graduation, and, man, is that one fun. These little kids will tell you one at a time what they want to be when they grow up, and parents everywhere will be just as proud as they can be. They will think to themselves, “Wow, my child is a gifted child.” Well…they are. They are gifted children. The fact is, if you belong to the Lord, you are a gifted child.
I Peter 4:10 says, “As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.” The context is believers who are in a hostile world. He is helping us know how to treat other believers when the world is treating them harshly, when it is oppressing them. So, you are gifted. The Bible says, “Use hospitality one to another without grudging.” Have fervent charity above all things. Then it says, “As every man hath received the gift, even so minister.” You are gifted.
How are you gifted? The Bible says, “As every man hath received.” In other words, if I am gifted that means there is a giver. I have no right to brag about my gifts. They were given. They can be taken away. I didn’t buy them, earn them, deserve them, or aspire to them. They are gifts that are given. It wasn’t my choice. It is my choice to cultivate or ignore them, but they are gifts. They have been given.
The Bible talks about the manifold grace of God. So, we are all gifted in different ways. It is kind of like a patchwork quilt. It is basically one blanket made up of patches from many different patterns, garments, and so on. Back in the old days, they would take swatches of an old shirt, an old pair of trousers, and whatever else, and patch them together until it became this very colorful quilt. So, every person in the family of God has received a gift, and it is a gift. That is why the glory doesn’t go to the gifted; it goes to the giver. In verse 11 it says that “God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ to whom be praise.” So, you are gifted. How? You have received it as a gift.
Who gave you your gift? The Bible has already alluded to it. God did. Verse 11 says, “If any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth.” Verse 10 speaks of the manifold grace of God. So, it is God’s idea, God’s design, God’s enabling, and God’s gifting that makes a gifted person gifted. Therefore, it is silly to wish you had someone else’s gift and be jealous, and it is silly to brag or boast about the gift you have because it is a gift and God is the giver.
So, why are we gifted by God? The answer is very clear. “As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another.” God doesn’t want to give to you; God wants to give through you. We are to minister what has been given. We receive and we are to give. We received in order that we can give. You have not received in order to make you rich.
Now, I am not opposed to making money. You have got to have money to survive, but to think, “I am making this many dollars an hour,” good luck with that. That is not the road to success. Again, if you make money doing what God gave you to contribute, then fine and good. If you received recognition, then fine and good. But how much money you make and how much you are applauded is not the standard of success. Success to the gifted is being a good steward to the giver. The Bible says, “As good stewards of the manifold grace of God.” So, I am to be a good steward. It is not mine. God gave it. I am to use it to give to others. God wants to give through me to others.
You say, “I don’t know what my gift is.” I know the feeling and I’m sure there is more for me to learn. Even after college, I didn’t know how I was gifted. Looking back, I could see inklings of it, but I honestly did not know. A year after I was married, I didn’t know how I was gifted and a lot of things have just occurred to me in the last several years. So, if you don’t know how you are gifted, don’t worry, just give what you’ve got. If you have time, give it. If you have money, be generous and give. If you have muscles, give them. Someone says, “I am not gifted to sweep a floor.” Yeah, well, if you will take action on what you have, then God has a more vested interested in revealing to you what your gifts are because He knows that you will give them.
After all, the reason for God’s giving in the first place is not for you to make money, a name, or to be applauded. The reason God gave to you is so that you can give to others. You are gifted. You are gifted by God for a reason and that is success, being a good steward to the Giver of what He has gifted.