“Every artist was first an amateur.”–Ralph Waldo Emerson

By now, hopefully you’ve recognized that you have a gift and you’re taking steps to discovering your gifts. Today I want to talk to you about developing your gift. No matter how much natural talent you have or how gifted you are, it won’t get you anywhere if you don’t grow and develop. Talent alone, is never enough.

John Maxwell said, “If you’re gifted at something, you’ll automatically be in the top 50% of people in the area of your giftedness. If you do anything intentionally to develop your gift, you’ll land in the top 10%. If you’ll determine to always grow and develop your gift, you’ll end up in the top 1%.” I believe that. Here are some things you can do intentionally to develop your gift:

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⁶ In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well. So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out with as much faith as God has given you. ⁷ If your gift is serving others, serve them well. If you are a teacher, teach well. ⁸ If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging. If it is giving, give generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly. ~Romans 12:6-8

Yesterday we established the fact that you do have a gift. Today I want to focus on how you discover your gifts! Too many people are living day-to-day and never utilizing their strengths or their gifts. Too many people don’t think they have any gifts or anything to offer the world. Often, this is just due to them not knowing what their strengths and gifts are.

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⁶ In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well. So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out with as much faith as God has given you. ⁷ If your gift is serving others, serve them well. If you are a teacher, teach well. ⁸ If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging. If it is giving, give generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly. ~Romans 12:6-8

Do you ever look around at all the talented people around you and think to yourself, “I wonder what my gift is? I wish I had that gift. I wish I had something to offer.” Odds are at some point in your life, you’ve thought like that. Who knows, you may be thinking that right now. I know I’ve been there.

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