“Not that we are
competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence
comes from God.” -2 Corinthians 3:5
(NIV)
“Our
competence comes from God.” Our
abilities are not our own. The things I
am good at, those traits that make me uniquely “me,” did not come from me! They were placed in me by God. Some, my abilities and talents, were wired in
at conception. Others, my spiritual
gifts, came about when I accepted Jesus Christ as my Savior and was filled with
the Holy Spirit (hence, “spirit”ual gifts).
Bottom line, they came from God, not me! (smile!!)
This
thought fills me with so much joy that I can hardly contain it!
If they
had come about by my own doing, I would have reason to boast. I would be prideful. I would have reason to look down on other
people because they can’t do what I can do.
Then I would look at the people who can do things I can’t and feel
inferior. I would ask myself, “What’s
wrong with me that I can’t do what they can do?”
Because
these competencies are from God, though, and not my own doing, HE is the one in
Whom I can boast! There is nothing that
I can do on my own. When a plan comes together beautifully, it's not me at all: it's God! My passions, the
concepts and causes that drive me, are my passions because God has a plan for
it. Those things that I do well, I do
them that well because He has a purpose for it.
Those things that I am mediocre at, despite attempts to improve, He has
a purpose for it. When I DO improve in an area, guess what... it's God! And those things that
I CAN’T do at all? You guessed it! God has a plan and a purpose in my inability
as well as in my ability!
“Don’t be deceived, my dear
brothers. Every good and perfect gift is
from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not
change like shifting shadows. He chose
to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of
firstfruits of all he created.” (James 1:16-18, NIV)
Does
this mean that EVERYTHING about us is good, and from God? No.
“The acts of the sinful nature
are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and
witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition,
dissensions, faction and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who
live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.” (Galatians 5:19-21, NIV)
Yes, we
were “fearfully and wonderfully made” by God, for His purposes (Psalm
139). However, we were born into a
fallen, sinful world and the consequences
of sin are our eternal inheritance unless we commit our lives to following
Jesus.
When we
give ourselves, our lives, our abilities to God, He will turn them around and
use them for the purposes He has always had for them. I find so much joy in the fact that the One
who sees the outcome has given me my passions, talents, and spiritual gifts, and that it is with HIS competence that I walk through this life.
