Had an interesting conversation with my dad recently. He said God gives gifts and talents, and that those are two very different things. Gifts are spiritual and for the advancement of the church and the strengthening of the body of Christ. Examples include pastors, teachers, and prophets. Talents are physical human abilities that God grants you, such as being good at science, math, writing, or photography.

I’m on a journey of using the talents God has given me with my photography (site coming soon) and this blog (Journey of Thankfulness). What I’m learning is that God will bless the gifts and talents He’s given us when we are willing to use them for His glory. My mother always told me that I have the spiritual gift of discernment, and I can genuinely say that that gift has saved me and others on more than one occasion. Photography allows me to see the beauty in everything God has made, while writing allows me to express what He’s showing me and to share it with others. Here’s a truth: the enemy of our souls does not want us to use our gifts or our talents. He wants us to feel useless, as if we don’t have a purpose or a reason to exist. Here’s another truth: we are God’s “workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10).

So, friend, if you’ve put your gifts under the bed or your talents on the shelf, pick them up and dust them off. God’s not done with them or you yet. He has a purpose for giving them to you. So don’t be afraid to use them.

“To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good” (1 Corinthians 12:7).

So what am I thankful for today? God-given gifts and talents.