Use Whatever Gift
You Have Received To Serve Others
The end of all things is near. Therefore
be alert and of sober mind so that you may pray. Above
all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. Offer hospitality to one another without
grumbling. Each of you
should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful
stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. 11 If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who
speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the
strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus
Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.
1 Peter 4:7-11
When my oldest
sister’s biopsy revealed cancer in late February 2017, I remarked to friends,
“I need to spend as much time with Carolyn as possible—starting now.” Some told
me my feelings were an overreaction to the news. But she died within ten
months. And even though I had spent hours with her, when we love someone
there’s never enough time for our hearts to love enough.
The apostle
Peter called Jesus’s followers in the early church to “love each other deeply”
(1 Peter 4:8). They were suffering under persecution and needed the love of
their brothers and sisters in their Christian community more than ever. Because
God had poured His own love into their hearts, they would then want to
love others in return. Their love would be expressed through praying, offering
gracious hospitality, and gentle and truthful conversation—all in the strength
God provided (vv. 9–11). Through His grace, God had gifted them to
sacrificially serve each other for His good purposes. So that “in all things
God may be praised through Jesus Christ” (v. 11). This is God’s powerful plan
that accomplishes His will through us.
We need others
and they need us. Let’s use whatever time or resources we have received from
God to love—starting now.
How
have others loved you well? What have you received from God that you might use
to serve someone today?
There is nothing small in the service of
God.
Our Daily Bread – July 6, 2019