1 Peter 4:7-11

1 Peter 4:7-11
Contemporary English Version (CEV)

  It's so easy to be jealous.  I look around and see people with amazing gifts that make them stand out from the crowd, and I'll envy them.  Often, these gifts give them a platform from which they can influence large crowds of people.  "It'd be easier if I had that gift," I think to myself.  "Once I really develop my gifts, then I'll start opening up and sharing," I also think.
  It's not about waiting and wishing -- Christian service and love is about using whatever gifts and abilities you have here and now, using those for the Gospel, proclaiming God's love through your everyday abilities.  These are all different, for God gives us different gifts in different combinations, but think about what you love, and then use that to glorify God and share God's love.
  Often, what happens is the things we love become mini-gods to us, and they are the end in themselves.  Our love of something takes over that part of our life.  What Peter calls us to do is think seriously about how that gift can be leveraged for the glory of God.  Open up yourself and your life, and as others enter in, share the Gospel with them along the way.
  And in all things, Peter says, be sensible enough to pray.  Cover your life in prayer, for that is building the relationship that will last beyond this brief moment of life we are gifted, preparing us for eternity.  Reach out to the One who loves you beyond measure and say thank you for today.