Romans 12:3-8 Just as each of us has a physical body with many parts, each functioning uniquely as they are needed; so, the church body is made up of many people (parts). Each one is certainly unique; but compared to the parts of our physical body, which are sized, shaped, and placed in strategic places, sometimes their function is not so easily identified. As you look at your two hands or two feet, how do you decide which hand to use for writing or which foot to use to kick the football. Seldom do we ever need to even give it any thought - we use the one that historically has been better at doing that task. If the usual one is injured than the other one fills in as best it can. In the church body, the one who does what, when, and how is not usually nearly as obvious. When Paul writes in verse 3, "don't think of yourself more highly than you ought to think", I believe that he is saying it in the context of deciding where you will best function in the body. There are many areas that God has not given you the faith to tackle. Going after the wrong position might be like the non-dominant hand taking up calligraphy. There are some simple questions that we might ask ourselves when deciding how we need to function. What do we like to do? What are we good at? What needs to be done? What are we being asked to do? As we ask these questions, pray with an open mind, watch, listen and try new things; we may find that God has put some rather exciting things out there for us to do. More often than not the process of doing the job is more important than the finished product. Because of this our attitude and methods become extremely important. We need to learn when compromise is ok and when it is never ok. Remember that people are more important than process and God and His Word (properly used in context) are never to be compromised.

Use Your Talents and Gifts