No Special Gifts Required

5 Impacting Things We Can All Do Regardless of Our Natural Abilities

I’m fascinated by people who are exceptionally gifted in some area of life or ministry.  I know some people who are incredibly good with people.  Their charisma is magnetic.  They don’t know a stranger and can win over the toughest adversaries.  Others are exceptionally talented musicians or singers.  They can play or sing with a level of skill that surely causes angels to envy.  I’ve listened in utter amazement to gifted public speakers who can capture the attention of the hardest audience and hold them spellbound.  The world has many people with amazing gifts and abilities who are able to do what may seem impossible to you and me.

Sometimes the great talent we see in other people makes our own abilities seem inferior. At times, we’ve all felt intimidated and looked at our own lives and wondered if we had any special talents or abilities at all!  But the reality is we are all gifted in unique areas.  God has given all of us differing talents and abilities.  He bestowed a diversity of gifts to different people so that we would all need one another.

I’ve accepted the fact that there are some areas where I’ll never make a great impact because I’m not gifted in those areas.  That’s ok.  I will try to focus on my areas of giftedness because, obviously, that is where I’ll make the greatest impact.  But regardless of the gifts any of us possess or don’t possess there are some things that we can all do – things that really make a difference.  There are some areas where we can make an impact and there are no special gifts required!  Let me quickly identify a few:

1. Kindness.  We can all be kind.   We can all demonstrate kindness.  We can all be gracious toward people. There’s no special gift required.  It may never be said of me, “He brought the house down with that song!”  But I can be kind.  It can be said of me, “He is so caring and thoughtful.”
2. Encouragement.  We can all be an encourager.  The world is a discouraging place.  Our adversary is discouraging.  Life can be discouraging.  People are desperate for encouragement.  We can all be an  encourager.  There is no special gift or talent required to simply offer words or gestures of encouragement to the people in our lives.
3. Integrity.  We can all people of integrity.  Regardless of what special gifts I have or don’t have, I can be a man of integrity.  I can do what I say I’m going to do and practice what I preach.  We can all be people of character and integrity.
4. Prayer.  We can all pray.  We don’t have to possess some special talent or ability to pray.  Prayer changes things.  Prayer changes people.  Prayer changes situations.  Prayer changes us.  And anyone can pray.  I may not be a gifted singer, musician, speaker, writer or creative genius, but I can pray – and prayer makes an impact.
5. Faithfulness.  We can all be faithful – faithful to God, faithful to our calling or ministry, faithful to our spouses and family, faithful to our church, faithful to our vision and mission.  Diligent, consistent commitment to what’s important in life makes an incredible impact – and you don’t need any special gift to be faithful!

I’ll never play or sing at Carnegie Hall.  I’ll probably never receive a Pulitzer Prize for a literary masterpiece.  There are some things in life that I’ll never achieve because, frankly, I’m not gifted in those areas.  But in spite of what talents we may or may not possess, there are some things that we can all do – things that will positively impact our lives and the lives of those around us.  There are some areas of greatness where no special gifts are necessary!

– Pastor  Ball

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