Spiritual Gifts

**Disclaimer** I tend to be long winded so my posts will tend to be long...sorry.

I am assuming, now that we are just starting this blog, that most readers are going to be young adults.  People anywhere from high school age to just out of college for a few years. 

As many of us do around this time in our lives, I have been struggling to figure out what God wants me to do, or if there is JUST ONE thing God wants me to do.  I went through middle school and high school thinking I was going to be a rock star.  I felt called to youth ministry my senior year so I aborted my rock star mission to go to Taylor University and get a degree in Biblical Literature.  Half way through college I lost that call to youth ministry specifically and am just now feeling called in another direction.  

There is one thing that is constant throughout our young adult lives, that is pressure from the outside world.  Whether that be society, our friends, our family or that little voice in our heads that questions everything we do (namely, satin).  Growing up I felt a lot of pressure to abandon my passions and go to business school (or some other respectable degree) so I could be a hard working and well paid member of society.  I felt pressure to stay away from ministry and music  because the pay is bad.  I decided to go against that pressure and go to school for ministry.  

Now that I am out of college and married and feel strong pressure to provide and support my family, I have heard that little voice in my head say, "You idiot!  You should have gone to business school so you can be a good husband and support your wife."  The pressure now to provide is strong, but it is important to understand what God has in store for me.

This is where spiritual gifts come in.  In my daily devotions (or what I wish were more consistently daily) I have come across 1 Corinthians 12:4-11.  This passage teaches us that God has endowed each of us with certain gifts and passions.  Each of us is better at something, or does something in a unique way compared to any one else.  No matter what our gift is, they are all of the same Spirit.  

My gift (as noted in middle school through high school) is music.  God has blessed me with an ear to hear and a mind to create.  For years now I have been ignoring this gift because of the pressure of the outside world to conform to its standards.  It is only recently that I have decided to rebel against this conformity and embrace the gifts God has given me and pursue a career in music.  Right now, that call has led me towards directing worship bands in a church (with a slight leaning also towards recording).  Teaching and showing bands that they can take the musical talent given to them by God to worship God and empower His people.  Almost everyone is moved by music, and it is my gift, or job, to use that music to move them towards God.

The only way we can be truly successful in ministering to God's people is to do it using that special gift God has given us. Whether that is music, speaking, teaching, leading, or in fact, getting that business degree and leading the business world toward Christ.  

The moral of the story....Rebel against this world and its temptations and standards.  Embrace the gift God has given you!