When we stop using our gifts for others, that’s when we start dying. And this will be spiritually at first, and then usually physically.

God has made you uniquely to be placed in this world. And you have a unique set of gifts and characteristics such that you come alive when you use those gifts for the good of others. But if you use them for your own good, or if you stop using them at all, then you start dying slowly. Sometimes, imperceptibly and other times, perceptibly.

God tells Timothy, his spiritual son, to keep using his gifts. He is to practice them and immerse himself in them (1 Tim. 4:14). And the surprising conclusion is that if he doesn’t do this, he will be lost! (1 Tim 5:16)

“But aren’t we saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ? How is it then we will be lost if we do not persevere in the calling God has given to us?” Because God uses the exercising of our gifts for the good of others as a means to keep us saved. If we are not using our gifts, or we are using them only for ourselves, then we are still living in sin (Since sin is self-centered, ultimately). And this proves that we were never saved to begin with. For, what are we saved from but from our sins and self-centeredness?

If you want to make your salvation sure, find your calling and keep at it. Your calling may change. But what doesn’t change is staying faithful to God and striving for the good of others.

PH