Compliments from God – You are Gifted and Anointed

“So many times we say that we can’t serve God because we aren’t whatever is needed. We’re not talented enough or smart enough or whatever. But if you are in covenant with Jesus Christ, He is responsible for covering your weaknesses, for being your strength. He will give you His abilities for your disabilities!” ~ Kay Arthur

A mentor of mine would always say to me, “Louise, you’re a ‘five talent’ person.” Whenever she would say these words to me, it made me very uncomfortable. Worse still, sometimes I would hear her words repeated by other people to whom she had bragged about me, and my reaction was a very subtle internal anger. You see, I didn’t believe her. She saw me the way God sees me regarding my gifts, and because I didn’t believe that truth about myself, it repulsed me. Growing up, no one had ever really told me I was good at anything. Only in my early teens did I have the opportunity to explore different things because I was coaxed by the encouraging words of a youth leader or friend who dared to say that I was good at… Hearing such validating words felt good but it took several more years for their truth to sink into my heart.

One of the things God will constantly be showering us with compliments over is the fact that we are gifted. No one on this planet, made by the hands and in the image of God, lacks a unique ability that God placed inside them to accomplish His purposes on earth. We may slight God by saying we have no special gifts in comparison to those we deem blessed with whatever talents we envy, but the truth is that we are all gifted.

“God’s marvellous grace imparts to each one of us varying gifts.” ~ Romans 12:6a (TPT)

“Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.” ~1 Peter 4:10 (NIV)

I believe that the biggest compliment anyone can ever give us is not so much their words, but their trust. When we are confident in someone’s gift, we tend to trust them with important things, about that gift. For example, if we trust someone’s ability to sing well, we may trust them to sing a special song at our wedding. If we trust someone’s gift with numbers, we may trust them to handle our accounts. Furthermore, if we trust one’s gift with children, we may trust them to babysit and play with our own. One of the ways God persuades me to truly believe that He has gifted me is that He keeps asking me to do things for Him. God has complete confidence in you and me to perform the tasks He asks of us because He knows what He put in us when He created us. His continued requests for us to partner with Him to do good work on the earth is a testament to that fact.

Still don’t believe me? Alright, let me ask you this, is there anything you can do without stressing, thinking or trying? I know, you might be thinking that everyone can do that particular thing. Maybe they can and maybe they can’t, but the fact that you can do it so easily is evidence that you are functioning in a gift God gave you, energised by the anointing of the Holy Spirit in conjunction with that gift. You and I can do nothing in and of ourselves. The very fact that we are alive and able to get out of bed every morning is because of the grace of God. That being said, do you think you can do anything well without God having played a part in it? No, my friend, you are gifted and anointed by the Creator of the heavens and the earth. The one whose simple but dynamic words formed the sun also fashioned you in all your splendour. He didn’t leave you out when He purposefully assigned exceptional abilities to all of creation, so stop saying that He did.

The word anointing means God’s stamp of approval which is backed by His power. I like watching talent shows like American Idol and So You Think You Can Dance. Almost every season on these shows, there are moments when one or two contestants will take the stage and regardless of whether or not they believe there is a God, they perform and you can see the anointing of the Holy Spirit shine through their piece. That extra something that others can see, that special something when you do what you do well, that makes others give glory to God is what we can refer to as His anointing.

When we get to a place where we can comfortably settle into the gifts God has given us, the power of the Holy Spirit will dovetail with our talents into something ever so beautiful.

“But you have an anointing from the Holy One, you have been set apart, specially gifted and prepared by the Holy Spirit, and all of you know the truth because He teaches us, illuminates our minds, and guards us from error.” ~ I John 2:20 (AMP)

Next time you’re tempted to reject God’s compliments concerning your gifts and anointing, I hope you can remember this verse and regulate your self-talk by quoting it to yourself. You are the embodiment of a classic idea that God had for the earth and the duration of all time, don’t slight Him by rejecting what He says about who you are and how He made you.

 “When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say, ‘I used everything you gave me’.” ~Erma Bombeck

I have this beautiful quote hanging in my kitchen. I got it from a friend and it speaks straight into what I am trying to get across here. God has gifted you and placed His seal of approval on you. So I challenge you, rather than sit idly by allowing your unique gifts to collect dust, ask the Holy Spirit for wisdom on how you can mine them out and develop them. Take the first step of acknowledging you are blessed and thereafter, step out because your gifts will only grow as much as you work them. I pray that when you stand before our Lord you can confidently say to him that you used everything He gave you for His glory.