Totally Untalented: or do you Have any Gifts?

Totally Untalented: or do you Have any Gifts?  

 By Keturah L.

A while back some friends and I were laughing and talking. I can't remember exactly how we got on the subject ( it seems we were throwing out crazy plot twists ), but however it happened I said something like "What if you wrote this story and the main character had no talents whatsoever and..."  One of the guys said, "That isn't right. When God created us he gave us all gifts and talents and places in life. No-one is created with out a purpose."  

Normally I defend what I say, but this time what he said hit me as true. What I had said was VERY unbiblical.  

  

When I write I try to make all my stories at least follow certain biblical principles even if my stories aren't necessarily "Christian" genre.  Needless to say, that story idea was trashed :).  Yet what I had said many would consider true. Just look about you. There are many, many people that appear to have nothing, do nothing, know nothing.  They are "ugly", "untalented" and no fun to be around. Normally their dress style doesn't help, nor half of the weird things they say or do or the way they act.  These people we class as "untalented" ( a word that shouldn't even exist ). 

 Maybe you are one of those "untalented" people. You can't find anything special about yourself, you are good at nothing.  Well, let me tell you now that your idea about yourself is false.   Yes, there are many seemingly untalented people, because like it or not, no one is born perfect. Even those of us who were lucky enough to have someone help us develop our talents would be nothing if it weren't for trying.   And practice.   Lots of it. In order to have talents I have learned you must CHOOSE to DEVELOP them.  But how do you discover YOUR true talents and destiny in life? How can you be YOU and have others like you at the same time?  Sad Fact: First off you need to accept that everyone won't like you. You need to be happy anyways and just be you. Living to please others will only bring many disappointments in your life, because you will ALWAYS displease someone.  (Not saying you should live carelessly or purposely displease others. Just don't make it your priority to be someone else's puppet.)  I believe the very first step to finding true happiness with ourselves is found in this verse, 

Proverbs 3:5-6 
"Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths" 

   In order to believe and really accept that we ARE created for a purpose and DO have talents and gifts we first must accept the One that made us and gave us those gifts in the first place.  Believe in Yeshua ( Jesus ), accept him as your savior and let your old ways be no more than the past - over. Including the thoughts that you have no talents.  For now you are a new creation in Him. 

2 Corinthians 5:17 
"Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new."  

After that here are some suggestions for discovering your own talents: 

  1.  Believe that you were created for a reason - that you aren't some freak accident.   This is one of the Devil's biggest lies. If he can make you not feel special then you will automatically believe that no one cares for you which then leads you to believing that Yeshua ( Jesus ) did NOT die for YOU.  To believe this is thinking that you are worse than EVERYONE. Which is not true.  

 Romans 3:23 
"For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God"  

 
2. Accept that God made you special and that you have a purpose in life.  Self-worth and self-dignity are important as long as we don't let them turn into self-righteousness or self-pride. 

3. What do you most enjoy doing? These are the natural desires given to us by God.  Make a list of what you like doing. Remember these may only be desires. You may have already wasted much time by thinking you were untalented that you never spent much time cultivating your gifts.  Just because you have a gift for something doesn't mean you'll be just awesome at it. God only gave you the desire and the gift. You must make it grow by using it and working with it. Perfect it with practice.   

And talents can be anything from big stuff to little stuff. Singing, acting and other things that make you famous aren't the only talents out there. :) In fact these things can distract us from our real talents by making us think that those are the only talents out there.  True talent isn't becoming popular, but being passionate about what you do because you love it and letting that gift make you a better person.  

 4.  You don't know what you like doing? Or what your natural gifts are? Most likely somebody ( that is a good influence in your life ) will have noticed your talents peeking through. Take advice from others to see what you are good at.   

5. Apply your talents to practical every day things.   And be unique, be you.   Just because your talent may be working with kids doesn't mean you have to become a teacher or social worker or children's missionary. Look at ALL the options and pick the one that best suits your unique personality.  Don't go for the norm or what everyone else does. Don't do things to please others. Do all for the glory of Yahweh.    

1 Corinthians 10:31 
"Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God." 



Colossians 3:17    
"And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him."

6.  Let your talents and personality intertwine. Be unique. Be respectful. Use dignity.  Just as there isn't a truly untalented person there is not an ugly nor undesirable person.  It's all in how you act and dress and talk and be you.  Embrace what God wants for you, and your attitude ( and yes, even style ) will change to make you a greater person for Yahweh. 

 

  So, what are your talents? Share in the comments. :)

Presenting the Gospel- no Matter What

Presenting the Gospel- No Matter What 

By: Maryann Y.

​Hello. I am going to discuss something that has particularly bother​ed me this past week- Presenting the Gospel.

First, what is the Gospel? The Good News. The story of Jesus' Love for us. The amazing story of the Cross. 1 Corinthians 15:2 says, "By this Gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the Word I preached to you, Otherwise, you have believed in vain. 

The first thing I thought when I read this was, "Ouch." Paul is good about using strong words. Basically, the verse means that if you believe in a God, but not in the Gospel, you are not a Christian and are eternally condemned. Like I said, Yikes. but if you DO believe in the Gospel, guess what? 

"I write these things to you in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life."  1 John 5:13.  And earlier, in 1 John 5:11,

"And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son."   Now you can jump up and down and say, "Yay!"   Jesus is Eternal Life, and God gave us Jesus.

Now we get to the real meat.  Once you have Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior, You Have To Share Him.  No if's and's or but's. 

Well, maybe some and's, but we're getting of topic. All Christians are missionaries, and all Christians must share Him.          No Question. 

Now, I know you're going to say this, because I already have;

You/Me: But I'm to young! ( that and the one below are mine ) 

                              or

You/Me: I don't know how and I never was good at public speaking!

                              or  

You/Me: But all my friends are Christians, I don't know any unbelievers!

The last one may or may not be true, but it usually isn't. What about that neighbor that always walks her dog past your house? Or that elderly man who never leaves his porch swing? Or the employee at Target you see every week? Or that girl you sit next to in class every week? (unless your home-schooled like me) 

Now if you ARE like me, and you live in Togo, West Africa, your butcher could be a failing Catholic, the pool manager at 'Pacine Atlantide'(French) could have dabbled in Catholicism and Protestantism, E.TC. Most of the Togolais I know are "Religious" in some way or another. But we're talking about you, not me. 

OK, if you chose Excuse A. I'll take you to 1 Tim. 4:12-" Do not let others look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in faith, in love, and in purity."

If you chose Excuse B.  I'll speak from personal experience. Use your Bible. Let the Holy Spirit do the talking. And you can use what I've got in my purse: an Evangile Cube. You can get them at www.evangecube.com .

(I answered Excuse C above.)  Now for some verses when you share Him:

Rom. 3:23 ("For all have sinned....")

Rom. 6:23 ("For the wages of sin is death...")

2 Cor. 5:21 ("God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, ...)

1Jn. 1:9 ("If we confess our sin, he is....")

Mth. 9:13b ("...not to call righteous, but sinners..."

Is. 1:18 ("...though your sin is like scarlet, they shall be white....")

Jn 1:29 (".... takes away the sin of the world....")

 And when you share the Gospel, remember! It doesn't matter that the girl at church saved more people than you! This is about Jesus. Think of all of the people who were not Israelite that just lived and died while Joshua Moses received the 10 commandments. These poor people had no Savior to look forward to, and now they will spend an eternity in hell. As Christians, we've got to be blinding lights for Jesus. So,  "Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you, And surely I am with you always, even to the end of the age."  Mathew 28:19-20

​       

___________________________________________________

Psalm 19:14     

"May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be pleasing in our   sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.         

                 Maryann Y. 

Confessions of a Perfect Sinner

Confessions of a Perfect Sinner

 By TreAnna B.

            I recently posted a confessions article on my personal blog. This one is a little different though.

As the titles suggests, I am going to give you the confessions of a Perfect Sinner. You may be wondering how that oxymoron even works. Well, I'll tell you.

            We are all perfect sinners. We spend each day of our lives committing sin, whether we are aware of it or not. Therefore we are perfectly sinful.

            So what is my first confession as a perfect sinner?

I don't like holding this title.

            Does anyone? I mean there aren't many people who like to be told that what they are doing is wrong. Holding this title is essentially being reminded every day of our lives that we are doing something wrong. That there is something wrong with ourselves.

            Don't freak out just yet. I'm going somewhere with this.

            Let me try to explain this oxymoron to you a little better. Being in the state of perfection means that there is no flaw. That's almost impossible for us to think about because there aren't many things in our lives that can be dubbed as 'perfect'.

            Being in the state of sin means that we do something that goes against God's word. In some area of our lives, we rebel against God. It doesn't have to be a big thing. A lie is considered a sin.

            So when we put these two states together we have humanity. Sin is the one thing that I can say without doubt that we do perfectly. We do it every day of our lives,  and some days we do it without even realizing it.

            So we are perfectly sinful.

Confession: We don't have to let this title define us.

            Just because we are given a title doesn't mean that this title has to immediately be ingrained in ourselves.   We don't have to be ruled by it.

            We will never reach perfection. Jesus was the only man to walk the earth that ever will, but we shouldn't give up just because of being 'perfectly sinful'.

            Think about it this way: If someone called you a nerd because you read all the time, would you let that title define you? Would you stop reading because of it? Probably not.

            In the same way, we should not stop trying to be perfect just because we recognize that we are sinful creatures. Romans 3:23 says “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God...” Yet in Matthew 5:48, Jesus says to “be perfect as your Heavenly Father is perfect.” These two verses almost seem to contradict each other, however they have a point. Even though we have sinned and don't deserve what God has given us, we shouldn't stop working to try to deserve it.