Good Gifts to Give
Originally shared October 5, 2026
I recently posed the following reflection question:
Are there any areas where I have been undervaluing or withholding the gifts God has given me to share because I have doubted their (or my own) worth?
That’s where I want to pick up today. (See the original devotional on this topic here.)
You see, I have a hunch that most readers of Sustain are not walking around thinking to themselves: “Wow, I’m awesome. I have such amazing gifts.”
No, I think the more likely scenario is that we doubt and undervalue the gifts that God has given us because we get hung up doubting ourselves.
Is our gift good enough? Do other people really need or want it? Is it self-focused to think about or develop our own gifts?
And what’s tricky is that denying or neglecting our gifts—believing that we don’t have that much to offer—can feel akin to humility because we aren’t thinking highly of ourselves. That’s good, right? After all, Scripture repeatedly points us toward humility. Paul tells us to see ourselves with “sober judgment” (Romans 12:3).
But is withholding or downplaying our gifts actually humility?
The apostle Peter gives us a beautiful lens through which to understand the purpose of our gifts. Let’s have a look:
Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.
1 Peter 4:10-11
What’s so staggering to me is that each of us is called to be a steward of God’s grace.
Can we pause for a second and acknowledge what an extraordinary honor this is?
Every single one of us in this whole motley family of believers has been given a beautiful gift to share, and that gift is an expression of the varied grace of God.
It’s so easy to connect our gifts or service to our own sense of worth or identity. And when we do, we almost can’t help but want to be impressive or to find validation in them.
If we worry that we won’t be impressive or received well, it’s so easy to draw back.
Some of us (ahem 🙋) are more reserved and don’t naturally relish putting ourselves out there.
But our gifts aren’t primarily an expression of ourselves; they are expressions of the grace of God flowing and overflowing through the specific vessel of each of us.
And our participation in this expression of His grace is not a performance. Rather, it is a form of worship that can only reasonably be carried out with deep humility and reverence. If it’s carried out in pride or self-interest, it no longer resembles the Giver.
So the challenge is not to think more or less highly of ourselves, but rather to shift the focus off of ourselves.
To quote a little book I love:
“The essence of gospel-humility is not thinking more of myself or thinking less of myself, it is thinking of myself less.” (Tim Keller, The Freedom of Self-Forgetfulness)
And I think we see this in Peter’s call to use our gifts. Our gifts come from God. The gifts are given that we may serve others, to the glory of God. And the gifts must be empowered and sustained by God.
Our gifts are meant to complete a loop that originates with God, blesses others, and returns to God in the form of praise.
We have the great honor of being involved in this process. Part of the blessing for us is precisely in the fact that we can forget ourselves a little in the grander purpose of stewarding God’s grace toward others. We are involved in something so much bigger than ourselves.
We need a lot of grace and help from Him to get out of our own way sometimes. I freely confess that I do. So often I would feel much safer drawing back. But I want to be where He is leading. I want to see the expressions of His grace that He wants to give through my life. What about you?
And what’s beautiful too is that we aren’t called to muster up these gifts ourselves. Yes, we should steward them well, but we are to serve with the strength God provides. If we speak, we are to speak as one speaking the very words of God.
Once again, it’s living as a branch connected to the true vine. He supplies everything we need as we stay connected to Him, and the fruit of this abiding becomes a blessing beyond ourselves.
Let’s not block this process. Let’s complete the loop: taking the gifts He gives, offering them up in worship to Him and service to others, for their good and for His glory.
After all, that’s what our gifts are for.
🌿 Questions for Reflection
Am I allowing God to give good gifts to others through me?
How might “God's grace in its various forms” find its expression through me specifically? (Sometimes, other trusted people in our lives can help us to see this more clearly than we can on our own.)
Is there anywhere I need to “get out of my own way” in order to let God’s grace flow to others through me?
🙏 Prayer
Lord,
You are the Giver of good gifts. Thank You for the ultimate gift of Your Son and for the individual gifts that You want to share through each of our lives. What an incredible honor to be a steward of Your grace.
Let us respond appropriately with reverence, true humility, and worship. May our very lives praise You.
When we live this way, You are honored and others are blessed.
Help us to be honest with ourselves where things like insecurity or selfishness are actually causing us to withhold gifts that You want to give specifically through us.
Bring us the deep assurance of the safety we have in Your love, and give us courage to use our gifts where we are inclined to draw back.
In Jesus’ Name,
Amen
Thanks so much for reading!
Scripture quotations taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.