Pastor Rick Warren: God Wants You to Share Your Talents With Others
People's God-given gifts are meant to be shared with those around them, Pastor Rick Warren says.
The senior pastor of Saddleback Church in Orange County, California, explains in his Daily Devotional on Thursday that the purpose of gifts is to share them, pointing to 1 Peter 4:10 which reads: "God has given each of you a gift from His great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another."
The megachurch pastor goes on to say that when Christians use their talents to help others, they are glorifying God.
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"God wired you to make a contribution. God did not give you your talents and abilities for your benefit. They are for the benefit of other people, and their talents are for the benefit of you," Warren says, noting the unique talent a mechanic has at fixing a car, or an accountant with managing money.
One of Warren's talents, he explains, is taking God's Word and making it understandable to others.
"One of my talents is taking the Word of God and making it clear for other people to understand. When I use that ability, you get blessed. My talent is for you. It's to help you," he says.
"When are you going to start blessing others? When are you going to start helping others?" Warren asks. "If you don't use your talent that God gave you, other people get cheated. The way you bring glory to God is by using your talent.
"God is glorified when you use your abilities to serve others."
Warren has focused his recent devotionals on the concept of glorifying God, writing earlier this week that by accepting those around us, we are glorifying God because we are showing His love to others.
"Did you know that every time you show love, it gives glory to God? Because God is love, and glory is revealing what God is really like," Warren explains in the previous post. "God says He wants you to become godly. He wants you to develop his character. Like father like son, like father like daughter. He wants you to learn to love people the way he loves people. God is love."
The megachurch pastor added that acceptance should not be confused we approval; we can offer acceptance to others without approving of their actions.
"We are to accept everybody; we are not to approve everything everybody does," he continues. "So no matter what people do or who they do it with or how they do it, or how long they do it, you are to love them. You are to accept them. It does not mean that you approve of what they do. God loves you, but it doesn't mean he approves of everything you do. Love is not saying I approve of everything you do. Love is saying I accept you in spite of what you do."
