Is Your Gift Bigger Than You?

Is Your Gift Bigger Than You?
Bishop Donald Hilliard

"O Lord, who may dwell on Your holy hill? He who walks with Integrity." Psalm
15:1-2 NAS

You wouldn't give your 5-year-old a 12-gauge shotgun or a big Harley-Davidson
motorcycle. Shotguns and motorcycles are great - but they're for adults. You
need maturity to handle them. Giving such gifts to your child would endanger
them, and everybody else around them. The gifts just don't fit the person.

Perhaps you're a talented individual. God's given you some large gifts like the
ability to speak well, or organize things, or create and design. But we sabotage
ourselves when our gift becomes bigger than we are. How does this happen? When
we begin to lean on the talents God gave us and don't mature emotionally and
spiritually - we ruin our chance to use those talents as God designed them. When
our character doesn't keep up with our talent, we learn to "wing it" through
life. We live on the surface but lack real strength underneath. And it shows up
when the crisis hits, the storm comes, or we are under pressure. You can't "wing
it" when it comes to character building.

The greater the size of your gifts, the more you must dedicate time to
developing your character. Eugene Peterson paraphrases the Psalmist in The
Message: "God, who gets invited to dinner at your place? How do we get on your
guest list? Walk straight, act right, tell the truth. Don't hurt your friend,
don't blame your neighbor; despise the despicable. Keep your word even when it
costs you, make an honest living, never take a bribe. You'll never get
blacklisted if you live like this" (Ps 15:1-5 TM).

So, do you live that way?



Bishop Donald Hilliard, Jr.