T is for Talented...or is that gifted?

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June 29
Affirmation has flowed out of all of our mouths to someone concerning their great talent!  A musician, an artist, an athlete maybe who has left us in awe by their skill. As a parent of seven children, I made a conscious decision early on to encourage each of our children in their areas of talent.  Some of them might say I did this to a fault and they felt labeled by that affirmation.  This is our harpist, animals love this adventurous child, this one is naturally honorable, this is our writer, this is our artist, this is our gifted athlete who makes everyone smile, this one has a personality that can charm the world, etc.  Early on I did a spiritual gifts inventory with each of them, trying to desire their spiritual gifts after they had come to the Lord.  I am sad to say, I can't even remember the results of those tests, but from the way they have lived their lives and walked with the Lord their gifts are easy to identify.
Talents and spiritual gifts are two distinct categories and I read an excellent article the other day on this topic.


http://www.oneplace.com/ministries/please-convince-me-apologetics/read/articles/difference-between-natural-talents-and-spiritual-g-10770.html

Four distinguishing points are:
#1 Talents Are Inherited / Gifts Are Received

#2 Talents Are Possessed by the Saved and Unsaved / Gifts Are Possessed by the Saved

#3 Talents Are Developed and Expected / Gifts Are Matured and Surprising
 
#4 Talents Can Be Used Selfishly / Gifts Are Used to Serve God's Purposes


"But as Christian, we ought to know the difference. We ought to know how talents and gifts work. We recognize that natural talents and predispositions are passed down to us and nurtured in our family. And we expect that we can improve our talents if we work hard and practice. But we also know that spiritual gifts come from a supernatural source; they surprise us. We find ourselves doing things that we never expected, or we find ourselves doing what we used to do with unexpected effectiveness. God is now with us, empowering us to do and be more than we ever thought we could do or be. We find ourselves engaged in His work instead of just our own, and our efforts are no longer all about us; they are all about Him. As Christians, we ought to know the difference between living as a 'natural man' and living as a 'spiritual man', and we ought to know the important difference between 'natural talent' and 'spiritual giftedness'."

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