I Timothy 4:12-14 (NIV) 12Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity. 13Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching. 14Do not neglect your gift, which was given you through a prophetic message when the body of elders laid their hands on you.
II Timothy 1:6-7 (NRSV) For this reason I remind you to rekindle the gift of God that is within you through the laying on of my hands; for God did not give us a spirit of cowardice, but rather a spirit of power and of love and of self-discipline.
Being in a job suitable for our gifts is essential in fulfilling God’s will. We are called to serve God by the work we do, and all have some special ability that will help us serve God for the common good.
Timothy appears to be one of those people who had the gift of leadership but not the personality. He seems to have been a rather shy person, an introvert. Paul is saying “Timothy, you have the gift for leadership. Do not neglect it by giving in to the pressures around you. Do not let anyone put you down because of your age.” Do we give in to the pressure around us to neglect our gift? That pressure can come from what our family, our teachers, or our friends might expect from us.
We live in a society that tends to see us as something to be molded. We are the raw material to be shaped, rather than being someone who is gifted and who needs for those gifts to be recognized, nurtured and brought to the surface of our lives. Do not neglect that gift that is in you. Do not give in to the pressure around you or the fears and feelings within you. To go through life without recognizing our gifts and using them for the common good causes feelings of frustration, resentfulness, and boredom.
If the pressure of the world causes us to neglect the gift that is in us, the Christian community is called to help us rekindle that gift. The Christian community helps us recognize the gifts that are in us and to bring them to the surface of our life and to use them for the common good.
To rekindle the gift means to stir up the life fire again. It is an interesting phrase in a time when we talk about being burned out. We rekindle the gift by staying near the flame of Jesus. For in Jesus we find One who cares about us. Here is One who desires nothing more than that we conform to the person God created us to be. We stay near the flame of Jesus with our prayers and especially by asking “What is it You would have me to do?” When we use our gifts, it feeds our own soul. We become aware that our work fits our life. Our gifts grow by using them.
You have been given a gift for the common good. Do not neglect that gift, but rekindle it.
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