Bible Reading: Romans 12:3-8; 1 Corinthians 12:4-7

“We made cinnamon biscuits for tomorrow’s bake sale at school today,” announced Lexi, bounding up the steps and into the house. “Miss Summers took us to the kitchen and helped us. They were gooey and deeeelicious! We were each allowed to have one after all the other ones had been packaged.”

“They sound great!” said Mom. “I’ll have to buy some tomorrow. Maybe we can even make them at home sometime.”

“Yeah!” said Lexi. “It would be even more fun making them here. At school we each only put in a couple of the ingredients. I got stuck with measuring the dry stuff–the flour and salt and baking powder. It was okay, but I would have liked to mix the gooey part.”

“Well, you did have an important job,” said Mom. “And it sounds like the biscuits turned out well–light and fluffy, right?”

“Oh, yes!” Lexi sighed as she thought about them. “They were light and fluffy and so yummy!”

“Without the baking powder, they would have been flat and hard,” said Mom. “It was your baking powder that made the biscuits light and fluffy.”

“Really?” Lexi looked surprised. “Well, then maybe I had the most important job of all, even if it wasn’t as much fun to do as the gooey part.”

“Not necessarily. All the ingredients were important, not just the baking powder,” said Mom. “Every team member had an important job to do.” She looked at Lexi. “We’re something like recipe ingredients too.”

“What do you mean by that?” asked Lexi, perplexed.

Mom laughed. “I mean that God has given unique gifts and abilities to each of us–all different, but all needed. As Christians work together and use our different gifts, we show the world God’s love and point people to Jesus. It’s easy to make judgments about how big or small someone’s skills might be, including our own, but each gift is equally important. All of our abilities were given to us by God, and He wants us to use them to serve Him and show His love to other people.”

“I think I get it,” said Lexi. She grinned. “Okay. I’ll be the very best ingredient I can be–even if I’m not the gooey part!”

–Della R. Oberholtzer

How About You?
Have you ever wished you could do something someone else could do? Do you feel like your role in God’s work in the world isn’t as important as someone else’s? God loves each of us dearly and has given us special gifts. As Christians work together, each talent and ability is important in helping more people know about Jesus. Know that God sees all you do and is glorified when you use your gifts to show His love to others.

Today’s Key Verse:
There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. (NIV)

Today’s Key Thought:
Everybody is important to God’s work