Pensamientos para hoy (afterthought for today)
Add the spice
Not too long ago I found a new hot sauce at the grocery store. It's called "Calypso Hot Sauce". Its distinctive flavor comes from papaya--its main ingredient. I don't use it on everything because I already spice up a lot of my food with fresh jalapeno peppers. Not everyone in my family likes their food this spicy, but they all have their favorite flavors. One of my daughters likes soy sauce. One of my sons likes ketchup. They like to sprinkle garlic powder and ground oregano on their pizza.
Spices are used around the world to add flavor and variety to our foods. Could you imagine trying to cook without garlic or curry or cayenne pepper? Many people regularly add hot sauce or soy sauce or just plain old ketchup to otherwise bland food to make it tastier and more interesting. In a similar way God gives variety to his church by giving each of us different personalities, talents, and life experiences. We are the 'spice' that God uses to sprinkle throughout his churches to give his church interesting and distinctive 'flavors'. Each of us has special talents and abilities that God uses in the church to make the church run smoothly. In addition to these natural talents God has also given each of us special spiritual abilities. Theses special spiritual abilities help us to minister to each other and encourage each other to be all that God wants us to be. The Bible says:
There are different kinds of gifts. . . to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. . . All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he determines. . . Now the body [the church] is not made up of one part but of many. . . But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be (1 Corinthians 12:4-18).1What 'spice' do you add to the church? Maybe you're not sure what your special spiritual talents are. Like hot peppers that don't really give off their full, zesty flavor until they've been heated up, so we sometimes don't know our spiritual gift until we've been 'fired up' in ministry. The only real way to discover your spiritual gift is to get busy and allow your God given spiritual abilities to rise to the surface. As you serve in the church, you will be able to add your special blend of personality, natural talent, life experience, and spiritual abilities to the church and allow the church to be all that God intends for it to be for his kingdom and glory. Adding my own special blend, Pastor Steve August 31, 2007
Footnotes1 1 Corinthians 12:4-18, NASB (New American Standard Bible). Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations taken from the NASB.
Find more afterthoughts at Mas Pensamientos
(more afterthoughts)
Return to Home Page of trinityteaneck.org