A Gift to Receive and Give
I started writing when I was young. It was a way to delve into things I was interested in. However, the more I got into writing the more I took it seriously until I realized that my passion for writing was a gift from God.
When I realized I had this gift I grappled with ways I could use it for God. 1 Peter 4:10 is often used to refer to proper usage of spiritual gifts, but in many versions the verse clearly states "whatever gift" should be used for God. A gift from God is a gift from God, no matter if it is on a list or not. I dreamed about projects that would spread His message but had trouble following through with my vision.
In the meantime, I started up my blog, The Marylou View, with intentions of posting fiction and poetry. Eventually I found myself staring at the meager number of views my posts received. My focus wasn't on God's purpose for my writing. During this time I graduated from college and my focus shifted from writing to finding a job. Even though continuing to write would be beneficial to fine-tuning my craft I felt like writing cover letters and applying for jobs was more important.
After a while I found myself consumed by the job search. I felt isolated. Like I wasn’t working hard enough even though I was emotionally exhausted from frantically scrolling through job boards and applying to every job possible. All I could do to keep semi-sane was find ways to get out of the house.
One day I was leaving the library after visiting with a friend at UCF and ran into two Christians praying for people and sharing the Gospel. I shared a little bit of my struggle with the job hunt, then we got into a conversation about faith. I swapped my phone number with one of the girls, Kaitlin, and later that day I got a text from her asking if I wanted to share the Gospel with them. I didn’t think twice about it because I knew I needed to do it. Not because God needed me, but because He wants us to spread the good news of His son dying on the cross for us. For about three months I went out with the group as much as I could.
During our time serving together Kaitlin and I would talk about our ministry passions. I realized that sometimes while I take notes on the Sunday sermon at my church or when I'm reading my Bible I get a clear image of something related to what I learn. My plan is to use these images and thoughts to spread the Gospel and open conversations about questions that I’ve had and heard others ask about God, Jesus, and Christianity. I’m not going to pay attention to the numbers and I’m just going to let God lead the words I write.
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Kaitlin writes spiritual reflections on her walk with Christ. Her writing is bold and inspiring.
Spiritual Gifts Test is a great tool to use so you can begin understanding God's gifts.