In one of the axioms below, I wrote that if we were not charitable, we would lose talents. It seemed to be what the scripture was saying, but it was a new idea to me. I wondered why that was so.
The purpose for having a gift is to bless the lives of those around us. (See Doctrine and Covenants 46:8-9) It makes sense that if you are not going to use your gift for its original intent, that you might not keep it long. And yet, we are all acquainted with people of great talent that appear to be full of themselves, without giving much thought towards using talents to help others. This brings to mind the axiom about not seeing clearly cause and effect. It is difficult to see the coming and going of gifts in ourselves let alone in others.
As for the coming of gifts in ourselves, I found a quote recently that could be very helpful in identifying what our gifts are. "Your successes highlight your gifts; your disappointments help you learn your limitations and identify areas to work on. These important lessons directly affect who you are in God’s plan and play a major role in helping you determine your true identity." Elder Robert C. Oaks
Father in Heaven has a plan for all of his children collectively and a plan for each of his children individually. Knowing what our gifts are will help us understand His plan for us individually. (See also Moroni 10:9-19)
(The views written in this post are the views of the author and do not necessarily represent The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.)
The purpose for having a gift is to bless the lives of those around us. (See Doctrine and Covenants 46:8-9) It makes sense that if you are not going to use your gift for its original intent, that you might not keep it long. And yet, we are all acquainted with people of great talent that appear to be full of themselves, without giving much thought towards using talents to help others. This brings to mind the axiom about not seeing clearly cause and effect. It is difficult to see the coming and going of gifts in ourselves let alone in others.
As for the coming of gifts in ourselves, I found a quote recently that could be very helpful in identifying what our gifts are. "Your successes highlight your gifts; your disappointments help you learn your limitations and identify areas to work on. These important lessons directly affect who you are in God’s plan and play a major role in helping you determine your true identity." Elder Robert C. Oaks
Father in Heaven has a plan for all of his children collectively and a plan for each of his children individually. Knowing what our gifts are will help us understand His plan for us individually. (See also Moroni 10:9-19)
(The views written in this post are the views of the author and do not necessarily represent The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.)
2 comments:
What a neat quote from Elder Oaks, Marti! I have always thought it was so hard to find your talents when you don't have the usual ones (like playing a musical instrument etc). This is a neat way to identify those intrinsic talents within our characters. Thanks for the insight.
You are very welcome. It was a new idea to me too!
Post a Comment