‘Who makes you different from anyone else?’ 1 Corinthians 4:7 NIV
Your success isn’t found in your similarity to others but in your difference. Instead of comparing yourself with somebody else and competing with them, try to discover your point of God–given difference, for that’s where you will excel. Singer Pearl Bailey said, ‘There are two kinds of talent, man–made and God–given talent. With man–made talent you have to work very hard. With God–given talent, you just touch it up once in a while.’
Paul writes, ‘God has… given each of us different gifts.’ (Romans 12:6 CEV) Would you rather fight to develop skills where you have a small natural gift, or run with the talent God has given you to find out where it takes you? Dreams don’t come true because you do something well every once in a while. They’re fulfilled because you perform with excellence day after day. And that happens only if you work within an area of strength. You can’t be like the high school player who received an invitation to join the training squad of a national league rugby team. After the first week, he emailed home to say, ‘I’m the leading try scorer. These guys aren’t so tough.’ The second week he boasted, ‘Still the leading try scorer. Looks like I’ll make the starting line–up.’ The third week he wrote, ‘They’re starting playing ‘Tackle” footy today. Will be home tomorrow.’
You can’t achieve success without consistency, and you can’t achieve consistency working outside your God–given strengths. It will take all the talent you have to achieve your God–given dream. Following that talent will give you the best chance to be consistently good at what you do. So the word for today is—build on your strengths.
SoulFood: Gen 1–3, Luke 5:27–39, Ps 100, Pro 3:7–8
Renungan Hari Ini [The Word for Today] is authored by Bob and Debby Gass and published under licence from UCB International Copyright ©