Crossroads: Using What God Gives You

Matthew 25:14-30

Your Story

Talk about the gifts and abilities God has given you. How are you using them?

My Story and the Bible Story

I’m a good organizer and I like to plan events, but I didn’t realize how these gifts would help me in ministry. I had planned on being an accountant, but God had other plans for me. Now, as a minister to children and families, I can see how God gave me the right gifts to use for what God wanted me to do. God equipped me for my job, and I am using the abilities God has given me.

I could have ignored God’s call on my life. I could have decided that I wasn’t going to listen and that I would be an accountant instead. I could have thrown away the gifts God has given me by not using them. Jesus told a parable about that in Matthew 25.

Read Matthew 25:14-30.

The money that the master gave is like the gifts and abilities God has given us. God gives each of us talents—things that we are good at doing. We are given gifts and abilities to use to do what God has called us to do. God gives us what we need to be able to do these things. The first servant doubled the money he was given. He used what was given to him, and he doubled what he had. The second also used what was given to him and also doubled what he had. But the third didn’t use what he was given. In fact, he buried it.

When we don’t use the gifts and abilities God gives us, it’s like we are burying money. We can’t do what God wants us to do when we don’t use the gifts and abilities God gives us. When we bury these gifts, we ignore God. And when we ignore God, we can’t play our part in God’s kingdom. When the servant buried his money, the master was furious and threw him out.

Sometimes you might be afraid to do what God has called you to do, but remember that God has given you gifts and abilities. When you use them, when you do what God asks, God can use you to do amazing things for the kingdom. But when you ignore God and don’t use your gifts, then God can’t use you to do great things for the kingdom. God doesn’t make us do anything, but when we ignore God, we miss out on a lot. Sometimes our gifts go away when we don’t use them. Think about the gifts and abilities God has given you, and listen to see how God wants you to use them!

Discussion and Prayer

1. As a family, talk about the gifts and abilities God has given each of you. Help your children (if needed) by pointing out some of the gifts and abilities you see in them.
2. Ask if there are things your family feels like God is telling them to do. How can you help them follow God’s leading?
3. Talk about how God gives us many chances to use our gifts and abilities. Assure your children that making a mistake doesn’t mean God can’t use us.
4. Pray, giving thanks for the gifts God has given you and asking for help in knowing how to use them.

Rev. Jessica Asbell is the Minister to Children and Families at First Baptist Roswell, where she has been serving since 2012. She has written the children’s curriculum for Smyth & Helwys’s Annual Bible Study for the books of Daniel; Ezekiel; Luke; Jonah; 1 Corinthians; 1, 2, 3 John and Jude; Colossians; The Story of Israel’s Ancestors: Living toward a Promise; and Where Faith & Family Meet: A Book of Weekly Devotions. She has also written for CBF’s Spark and Form and for Affect in CBF’s fellowship! magazine. Married to Jonathan Oravec, Jessica reads every chance she gets.