God-Sized Dreams: A 30-Day Journey of Faith and CourageSample

Embrace Your Gifts

We have already talked about loving the gift more than the Giver as one way our hearts can stray. When we do that, we can make our God-sized dream an idol. On the opposite extreme, we can pretend our gifts don’t exist at all. Oh, we usually have good intentions when we do so. After all, wouldn’t acknowledging that we have gifts be prideful?

And yet gratitude for what we’ve been given always puts us in a position of humility, not pride. It’s okay to recognize and even celebrate what God has placed within you.

I explored this in detail through the books You’re Already Amazing and You’re Made for a God-Sized Dream, so let’s just quickly revisit some of the ways God shows how wonderful he is through you.

First, let’s talk about your strengths. Those are personal characteristics placed within you by God that can be used to serve others. For example, “encouraging” or “organized” would each be a strength.

What is one of your strengths?

When we express our strengths through our actions, those are our skills. For example, maybe you encourage through the skill of writing, or you might help others get organized by managing projects.

What is one of your skills?

Your strengths and skills are gifts God has placed within you that you can offer to the world. They are the heart of your God-sized dream. Because without them, your dream would forever remain just an idea.

I’ve heard many people say, “I can’t focus on who I am. It’s selfish.” But actually choosing to understand and embrace who you are is one of the most unselfish things you can do because it maximizes your ability to serve others and bring glory to God.

What can you thank God for about who you are? Push your insecurity aside for a moment and ask him to help you see it. Give yourself permission to pause and declare with the psalmist, “I am fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139:14 NIV).

Here’s another reason this is so important: if we don’t acknowledge who God has made us and thank him for it, then our God-sized dreams can be what we look toward to heal our insecurity. And I can tell you from experience that doesn’t work. Yes, God-sized dreams help us become more of who we’re created to be, but they can never fill that identity hole within us.

We can think, “This God-sized dream will give me what I need.”

God invites us to say instead, “God has given me what I need, so now I will share it through this God-sized dream.”

When you can embrace that truth, then pursuing a God-sized dream becomes about joy, because you really have nothing to lose. You’ve already been given what matters most, and no one can take it away.

What gifts are waiting to be opened within your heart? How will you use them to change your little corner of the world today?

Go Deeper

Read 1 Peter 4:10-11 to see examples of gifts that God gives his people.

God, thank you for creating me with gifts. I’m grateful for the strengths that you’ve placed within me and the ways those are expressed as actions through my skills. I humbly acknowledge that I do have something to offer and that you have made me to make a difference. Amen.

What’s one truth you want to remember?

What’s the next small step you’ll take?