Our 5th Gift To Manage: Spiritual Gifts/Talents

This is from a talk I gave on Sunday, October 15, 2006 and I finally got a chance to post it!

Intro:
I want to start today with a story I saw online…

The great violinist, Nicolo Paganini, willed his amazing violin to Gen-o-a -- the city of his birth -- but only on the condition that the instrument never be played again.

That was too bad, because wood has a unique characteristic that as long as it is used and handled, it shows little wear. As soon as it is discarded, it begins to decay.

The amazing, mellow-toned violin has become worm-eaten in its beautiful case. It’s now valueless except as a relic.

It’s the same with the spiritual gifts and talents we’ve been given, if they’re not used they just decay!

The 5^th gift that God has given us to manage in life is our talents and spiritual gifts. We'll talk more about that in a minute, but first...

Let me let’s go over what we’re trying to do in this series. 5 Sundays ago we started our “Life Management” series and I told you…

God has given you (and will give you) all of the "raw materials" and opportunities you need to reach your full potential.

At the end of our lives, no one is going to be able to blame God that he didn’t give them what they needed to make it in this life.

Whether you reach your full potential, or not, will be based on how you managed what you've been given. Did you waste your gifts or cherish them?

For 5 Sundays, we're looking at 5 of the most important raw materials you've been given to form your life with. I'm calling these 5 raw materials "5 Gifts" that God has given you to manage.

The FIRST week, I talked about the first gift that God has given us to manage, which is TIME.

We looked at this as the building block of all we do in life. I talked to you about the idea of giving your time to be with God and investing your time in ways so you’ll see payback now and in eternity.

You only get 1440 minutes everyday. If you sleep 7 hours that leaves you 1020 minutes. You can never get more. The only way to make more time is by managing it better. How we manage our time becomes our worship to God.

It makes Time Management a holy thing!

The SECOND week, I talked about the second gift that God has given us to manage, which is health. I showed you in the Bible that God cares about all of us – not just our Spiritual Health, but also our Mental, Emotional and Physical health.

I told you that how you manage your gift of health will decide the quantity and quality of your life.

The THIRD week, I talked about the third gift God has given us to manage, which is our wealth. It’s one of the only gifts that has a dangerous side to it. I told you also that God is the one that gives us the ability to gain wealth.

We looked at three ways to help us manage our wealth better: don’t waste it, grow it and give it.

Last week, I talked about the fourth gift God has given us to manage, which is our relationships.

God’s given us relationships to help us. If you think about it, relationships are the real currency of life! Relationships matter to God! The Bible is filled with ideas about why/how to interact with people! It’s a relational “How-To” book!

We were created for relationships! Daniel Goleman in his new book called “Social Intelligence says is that our minds are wired to connect!

One of our core beliefs as a church is that you need two connections to succeed and reach your full potential: you have to have a connection with God and a connection with others.

If you don't have BOTH of these connections, then you won't be able to reach your full potential! Learning how to manage and grow in our relationships is one of the most important things we can do.

I ended last Sunday by showing you three reasons God’s given us relationships.

You can read these last 4 talks online at my “Life Management Blog”. The web address is in the bulletin.

Today, I want to talk to you about the 5^th gift God has given us to manage which is our talents/spiritual gifts.

God has preloaded and programmed each of us with talents and abilities that he wants us to manage. When we committed our lives to Jesus we were given Spiritual gifts through the Holy Spirit that God wants us to manage. Did you really hear what I just said?

Right now you have two different type of presents: spiritual gifts and talents that God’s given to you. Some of these presents you might know about already BUT some of them you haven’t even discovered yet! They’re waiting dormant in you– ready to be used by you!

Let’s look at the difference between Talents and Spiritual Gifts…

1 Corinthians 12:4-11 Paul talks about Spirtual Gifts. This is what he says this…
⁴Now there are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but it is the same Holy Spirit who is the source of them all. ⁵There are different kinds of service in the church, but it is the same Lord we’re serving. ⁶There are different ways God works in our lives, but it is the same God who does the work through all of us. ⁷A spiritual gift is given to each of us as a means of helping the entire church. Let’s stop there…

Spiritual Gift – This is a spiritual power you’re given to help other believers and to help live out God’s will for your life. – Only a Christian can have Spiritual Gifts! What type of Spiritual Gifts are there? Paul gives us a list of SOME of them in verses 8-11. Listen to what he says…

⁸To one person the Spirit gives the ability to give wise advice; to another he gives the gift of special knowledge. ⁹The Spirit gives special faith to another, and to someone else he gives the power to heal the sick. ¹⁰He gives one person the power to perform miracles, and to another the ability to prophesy. He gives someone else the ability to know whether it is really the Spirit of God or another spirit that is speaking. Still another person is given the ability to speak in unknown languages, ^F61 and another is given the ability to interpret what is being said. ¹¹It is the one and only Holy Spirit who distributes these gifts. He alone decides which gift each person should have.

So when you began to follow Jesus, the Holy Spirit came into your life and gave you gifts. He decided which would be right for you based on the purpose God created you for and based on the needs of the church.

So what’s the difference in a talent? A talent is the ability to do something well. A Christ-follower or a non-believer can have talents.

Example:

• Talent – playing the piano - You can use this for God or for yourself.
• Spiritual Gift – faith - This gift was given to you to help the church – help other Christ-followers.

Let’s think about something for second…

I want to show you a reason WHY you’ve been given these talents and spiritual gifts -- and it’s a reason that you might not of thought of!

To help you see this, I want to go on a tangent for a second that will make sense it a minute.

We Have To Start With Something

Everything that exists started as an idea in someone’s mind. That’s true about this world. All this – including you and me - was once an idea in God’s mind until God created it all!

But, that’s also true about everything else… This building, those chairs, the cars you drove in to get here, this projector – they all started as an idea in someone’s mind until they were made.

Everything started as an idea! But the difference between God and us is this…

Only God can create something completely out of nothing! When we create something we have to start with some kind of material. This building started as an idea, but it had to be created out of wood, sheet rock, steel. Those chairs out of metal, etc…

When we create something we need tools. Hammers, saws, lasers, whatever… God SPOKE this world into existence! Let’s get back to our spiritual gifts and talents and how this ties together…

Our spiritual gifts and talents were given to us to as the starting material to make something in life out of! They were given us to use as tools to start with. Without them we wouldn’t be able to be or do what we were created for!

God wants us to do something with them! He wants us to make something with them!

Jesus tells a story about this you’ve heard before in Matthew 25:14-30…

14 "Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his property to them. 15 To one he gave five talents of money, to another two talents, and to another one talent, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey.

16 The man who had received the five talents went at once and put his money to work and gained five more. 17 So also, the one with the two talents gained two more. 18 But the man who had received the one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master's money. 19 "After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them.

20 The man who had received the five talents brought the other five. 'Master,' he said, 'you entrusted me with five talents. See, I have gained five more.' 21 "His master replied, 'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!'

22 "The man with the two talents also came. 'Master,' he said, 'you entrusted me with two talents; see, I have gained two more.' 23 "His master replied, 'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!'

24 "Then the man who had received the one talent came. 'Master,' he said, 'I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. 25 So I was afraid and went out and hid your talent in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.'

26 "His master replied, 'You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? 27 Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.

28 "'Take the talent from him and give it to the one who has the ten talents. 29 For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. 30 And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'

Let’s look at this story a little deeper for a minute… Talents are the man’s property – on loan to servants. He gave them and expected them to GROW them! You see, back then, a person would leave servants in charge of his property and expect them to not only KEEP the property, but MAKE him more!

If he left a field of grapes, he didn’t just expect to JUST have a field when he came back! He expected to have more grapes that had grown – or more money from selling the grapes!

It’s the same nowadays. That master isn’t more harsh than any business owner. If you left someone to manage of your store for a month, you expect them to make you some more money by the time you get back!

You don’t want them to say, “I didn’t want anyone to steal anything while you were gone or have to worry about failing you, so I shut down the store for the month you were gone and I gave everyone a vacation. We didn’t make any money last month, but your store is still here! You’d be mad at that manager! He didn’t do his job! He’d be fired! Just like the servant hug buried the talent!

God’s the same! He’s given us talents and gifts to manage and he expects us to gain more for his kingdom with them. He expects us to grow! God wants us to use the talents and spiritual gifts he’s given us for others and for his kingdom!

I want to tell you a story that will give you another unique reason why God has given us talents and spiritual gifts -- Story: The Grain Of Rice

God’s given us our gifts to learn how to rule – to learn how to manage! They’re given to us for practice for what he wants us to do and be. God has given us our gifts/talents to prepare us for what he has for us later in this life and the next life.

Let’s look at the Math of this parable Jesus tells from Matt 25 for second…

• The master gave the 1^st servant 5 Talents. How many did the servant make? 5!
• The master gave the 2^nd servant 2 Talents. How many did the servant make? 2!
• The master gave the 3^rd servant 1 Talent. How many did the servant make? 0!

Notice in the parable that Jesus said the master didn’t give each servant the SAME amount! What’s it say in verse 15?

He gives each based on their ability. God won’t give you more or less than you can use! He won’t give you what you can’t handle! God might have given you more talents and spiritual gifts than me, but I only have to worry about what I’VE been given!

“People are not equal in talent (or gifts), but they can be equal in effort.” We can’t all be equal in what we do for God, but we can be equal in the effort we put into it!!

I want you to notice something else here…

Look what the master said to the servant who received 5 Talents, "His master replied, 'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!'

Now listen to what Master said to the servant who received 2 Talents, "His master replied, 'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!' De ja vu! Sound familiar doesn’t it?

He said the same thing to BOTH even though the second servant gained 3 less than the first servant! Do you realize what that means? That’s REALLY good news for us!

They both put in equal effort and were rewarded equally! God will reward us for what we do with what we’ve been given – NOT based on what someone else has been given and what they’ve done. He doesn’t compare us! It’s not a competition!

The only person you’re competing against is YOURSELF and what you’ve been given!

Let’s look at the servant that’s punished….

The master said to the servant who received 1 Talent, "'You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? 27 Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest '

He got punished because he didn’t even try at all! Back then, “doubling your investments” was a normal thing ANY servant should have been able to do! (Check this fact in commentaries.) These guys weren’t doing some super-star thing!

Imagine facing God one day and you say, “Hey God, I’ve still got that talents and spiritual gifts you gave me!” God says, “Good! So what’d you do with them?”

You say, “Oh nothing! But I’ve still got them. I didn’t LOSE them!” Then God says, “You do ANYTHING with them?” And you say, “No, I didn’t want to fail, so I didn’t do anything, but I protected them!”

God’s not going to be too happy! But wait a second; I want you to realize something if you still think that’s harsh…

It’s pretty hard to do NOTHING at all for God! There might be a lot of people who didn’t gain MUCH – or hardly anything – but to gain NOTHING means you must’ve never really believed in Jesus, because you have nothing to show for it.

Even the worst REAL Christ-follower will have at least done and gained SOMETHING! God expects us to do something with the talents and spiritual gifts He’s given us!

He expects us to use them for Him and others, the best we can. When He returns he wants people will be better off because of us. He wants more people to know him because of us. He wants people to be better Christ-followers because of us!

And through all of it, He wants US to have grown into who he created us to be by USING the spiritual gifts and talents he gave us!

• If he’s given you the gift of faith, he expects you to have more faith.
• If he’s given you the gift of encouragement, he expects you to have used it to become the best encourager for him you could be!
• If he’s given you the talent of singing, he expects you to be the best singer, for him, you can be!
  
  

Growth Comes Action

Growth can only happen from use! Muscle, skill, etc… Playing it safe doesn’t help in the end, because you don’t end up with your talent or spiritual gift – you end up with nothing! Your talents and gifts were given to be USED for this life, not to be held onto until the next life!

I want to take a minute and talk to people here who already know you have spiritual gifts and talents. I want to talk to people that are already using their spiritual gifts and talents. I want to encourage you to do something: Go Bigger!

Why should it only be people in business or in science or other fields - that aim high? Donald Trump doesn’t go for just the million dollar deals – he aims for the multi-million dollar ones! Scientists aren’t just trying to help people get better – they’re looking for the cure for cancer or the cure for AIDS!

If you’ve been using your spiritual gifts and talents already, then good! That’s better than some people. But don’t settle for that! Go bigger! Set BIGGER goals for what you can do and be for God! Ask God for a bigger vision!

Here’s what I also want to challenge you to do… Use your passions to change the world! That’s what Jesus did with a small group of fishermen! Remember?

Matt 4:18-22

Jesus is walking along the shore of the sea of Galilee and he sees these two guys he’s met before. (He met them when John the Baptist pointed out Jesus and said, “The Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.”)

He sees Andrew and Peter fishing, which is what they did for a living. He called out to them and says, “Come be my disciples and I will show you how to fish for people.”

I won’t you to notice some things. Jesus is picking two guys who have common interests:

1. They’re fisherman! It’s their passion!
2. Not only that, they’re brothers.

They have a huge amount of things in common just because of these two facts!

And when he calls them out he use the language of their common interest. He says, “Come be my disciples and I will show you how to fish for people.” Or some translations translate it, “I will make you fishers of men.”

In a way, he’s saying I will teach how to use your interest, what you’re passionate about (fishing), and then use it gather up people.

Back to the story…v. 21-22…

Right away, Simon and Andrew leave their nets and follow Jesus. As they go a little further up the shore with Jesus they see two more brothers: James and John. They’re also fisherman and they’re sitting in a boat mending their nets with their father Zebedee. Jesus calls out to them and tell them to follow him too. And they do! They leave their father with the hired help.

James and John know Simon and Andrew. In Luke 5, we find out that they fished together as partners in the fishing business. That means that these guys (James & John) had the common interest of being fisherman and they also knew Simon and Andrew well. Plus, they were also brothers!

Do you see how Jesus is strategically choosing people that already have connections?

Jesus knew that people with the same interests and passions already have a natural connection and even use the same language. He knew that if they were connected around a Common interest(s) that they could them use those interests to change themselves and the world!

Quote from Mark’s book pg. 121 – if have time Use your passion to change the world!!! Use your passions to…

Connect: Get to know each other, grow in friendship and trust. Like I’ve told you before - we all need these types of friends!

Grow: Grow in your knowledge of God, his word and in your relationship with him

Reach out: Reach out to other people who have the same common interests, but who just might not know Jesus and invite them to hang out with your group.

Minister: Use your common interests to directly or indirectly minister to others. (People that are a part of our church or the community) Builders can use their passion to help a needy person.

Close/Close series:

God has given you (you already have) spiritual gifts and talents! They’re the material and tools God given you to make something out of in your life! Without them you can’t be or do what we were created for! But we have to use them! We have to manage them and use them to help others, build God’s kingdom, and reach our destiny! Go big with your gifts and talents – aim high!

Those are the 5 gifts I wanted to look at. I hope I’ve inspired you to be a better manager! How you manage these 5 gifts (these 5 raw materials of life) from God: Time, Health, Money, Relationships and Talents/Gifts will have a HUGE effect on what you accomplish in life and what you become.

There are other gifts that God’s given us, but these are the major ones! To succeed in life we have to be successful managers and take care of what God’s given us. Whether you reach your full potential, or not, will be based on how you managed what you've been given. Did you waste your these gifts or cherish them?

We need to pray and ask the Holy Spirit to help us. We need to regularly focus on each of these different areas and do a check up to see how we’re doing. We need friends to keep us accountable in these area.

I’m going to keep blogging about these different areas and rotate the emphasis on each one, because I need to keep living this out! You’re welcome to read the blog and comment – interact and let’s grow together! Let’s pray!

Our 4th Gift To Manage: Relationships -- Part 2

(I left off with Pt. 1 here)

I want to remind us today about some of the benefits God's given us in the gift of relationships and try to inspire us all to cherish and manage this gift more!

1. God gave us relationships for influence.

We’re like chameleons. We become like the people we hang around. God created us in a way that we influence others and they influence us. The people we hang out with the most have the most influence on us!

Proverbs 22:24 gives us an example of this. Listen to what it says, “24 Do not make friends with a hot-tempered man, do not associate with one easily angered, 25 or you may learn his ways and get yourself ensnared.”

If you hang around someone who gets angry easily you will too!

In the book “The Power Of Focus” one of the co-author’s, Jack Canfield, tells what his mentor taught him about this idea…

“One of the first things my mentor, W. Clement Stone, suggested I do was to make a list of my friends. Then he directed me to put the letter “N” next to each person who nourished me and encouraged me to be great – people who were positive, optimistic, solution-oriented and had a can-do attitude. Next, he asked me to pit the letter “T” beside every person who was toxic – people who were negative, whined, complained, put down other people and their dreams, and who were generally pessimistic in their outlook. Then he asked me to stop spending time with the people who had a “T” next to their names. This is one lesson you must learn – surround yourself with positive people. Mr. Stone taught me that you become like the people you hang out with. If you want to be successful, you must hang out with successful people.”

You want to do well in school? You want to be more productive at work? You want to be a better Christ-follower?

Find a friend like this!!

Think about this...

Each relationship you have has a give and receive factor. Some relationships are more one way or the other. You need both types of relationships!

If you only have relationships that you give to, you'll feel drained.
If you only have relationships that you receive from, but none that you can give to, you won't grow.

Why?

Because we grow when we give/teach someone else! If you don’t have any relationships where you can give/help/teach the other peoples, you won't feel fulfilled!

We need both of these types of friendships!

I want to encourage everybody here to: find a mentor and be a mentor.

It can be an official mentorship where you ask someone to be your mentor or you look for someone to mentor OR it could be an informal thing where you've prayed and asked God to help you pick friends that can help you grow and to show you friends who you can help grow!

This is really important spiritually, but it's also important to have people like this in any and every area of life you can!

Watch how you grow when you find someone to mentor you. Watch how you grow even more when you start mentoring someone else!

One of the commandments Jesus gave in Matthew 28 is “go into all the world and make disciples...”

Start to pray that God would give you someone to disciple and that he'd give you someone to disciple you! This is a prayer God WANTS to answer in your life!

2. God's given us relationships to protect us.

I've told you this before we ALL need someone to speak the truth to us (encouragement and warnings) and someone we can speak truth to (confess).

Here are two verses in Proverbs that show us the friend speaking truth to us part that we need...

Prov. 27:6
“Wounds from a friend are better than many kisses from an enemy.”

Prov. 27:9
“The heartfelt counsel of a friend is as sweet as perfume and incense. 10Never abandon a friend—either yours or your father's. Then in your time of need, you won't have to ask your relatives for assistance. It is better to go to a neighbor than to a relative who lives far away.”

See, the speaking truth to us part, can and should be encouragement sometimes and warnings at other times!

We need friends to speak the truth in both these ways! Encouragement keeps us going and warnings protect us!

Who’s your friend who does this for you? If you don’t have one, then pray and ask God to give you someone like this!

In the book of James, Jesus’ brother tells us about the part about needing someone to speak the truth to us. He says this in James 5:16… “Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.”

We NEED people we can confess to so that we can heal and move on in life!

Daniel Goleman in his book “Social Intelligence” says it like this…

“Simply reviewing something painful from the past with someone who helps us see a different perspective… can gradually loosen some of the distress by recoding disturbing memories. This may be one reason for the relief that can come when client and therapist rehash troubles: the talk itself may alter the way the brain registers what’s wrong!”

These are all things I've talked to you about before, but it's good for you and me to be reminded about these things!

I want to take the rest of the time today and talk about the most important and influential relationships God has given us...

Our relationships with our families! These relationships can be some of the best and/or the worst relationships we have!

3. Our families (Parents, Sibling, Spouse, Kids) are the foundation God’s given us in life.

God gave us families for love, support, strength, encouragement, help, etc.

He cares how we treat them!

The Bible is filled with advice to obey your parents, love and respect your spouse, love your children, how to raise your kids,..

Have you ever thought of the POWER there is in a family?

· There’s no other group that knows you as intimately – the real you.

· There’s no one you can call “yours” like you can your family.

· There’s no one else you can love like your own father, mother, brother, sister or your own child.

· There’s no other person who can teach you like a parent can.

· There’s no one else you’ll probably influence as much (for bad or good) than your own kid.

· There’s no other person who can love you/hurt you like a family member can.

If you had a bad family, here’s the good news: God gives you 2 ways to make your own family!

1. God gives us the ability with a spouse you create a new family unit.
You are your family's chance to change the direction for your descendants – to redeem them!

If you had a bad family, upbringing, think about this...

What if you were given to your family as a GIFT to change the future of your family line? What if you were given to given your family line another chance at following God?

2. The other way to make a family of your own is through your friendships. Proverbs 18:24 “A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.”

Either way you look at, your our family (your birth family, new created family, or "family" friends) is your foundation. They’re your cheering section.

They are your future - literally. Jack, Will and Addison will be alive way after I’m gone! They are who/what I leave behind to influence this world.

We need to invest time in these relationships! We need to reinforce our foundations!

Zig Ziglar said this about relationships with our families…

"The evidence is convincing that the better our relationships are at home, the more effective we are in our careers. If we're having difficulty with a loved one, that difficulty will be translated into reduced performance on the job. In studying the millionaires in America (U.S. News and World Report), a picture of the "typical" millionaire is an individual who has worked eight to ten hours a day for thirty years and is still married to his or her high school or college sweetheart. A New York executive search firm, in a study of 1365 corporate vice presidents, discovered that 87% were still married to their one and only spouse and that 92% were raised in two-parent families. The evidence is overwhelming that the family is the strength and foundation of society. Strengthen your family ties and you'll enhance your opportunity to succeed."

Friendships and families really are God’s gifts to us!

We need to invest more time with them. We need to invest more time in talking with them, listening to them, laughing with them, encouraging them, forgiving them and praying for them.

“Success guru” Brian Tracy says this in his book “Focal Point” says it like this “Happiness in life, in large measure, comes from good relationships with other people – in your family and your personal life as well as at your work.”

Later he says… “You owe it to yourself to become a relationship expert.”

We need to invest time in our relationships.

We need to give and serve our friends and family. They’re our greatest assets. They gift us emotional strength and encouragement.

You don’t want to run the race of life and win and realize you have no one to celebrate with!

Next, we’ll look at the last gift that God has given us to manage as we finish this series.

What's Your Habit?

I'll finish posting the last parts to the 4th gift and then post the 5th gift talk here, but...

I found this blog post on "Have a Friday Habit" by Tim Sanders (author of "Love Is The Killer Ap" and "The Likeability Factor") and I thought I should tell you know about it.

It's all about measuring our goals/accomplishments in shorter time spans.

It's a good article on managing that 1st Gift God's given us to manage: Time!

Check out Tim's article here.

Our 4th Gift To Manage: Relationships -- Part 1

I want to start with a story today that Max Lucado tells in his book, In the Eye of the Storm …

Clovis Chappell, a minister from a century back, used to tell the story of two paddleboats. They left Memphis about the same time, traveling down the Mississippi River to New Orleans. As they traveled side by side, sailors from one vessel made a few remarks about the snail's pace of the other. Words were exchanged. Challenges were made. And the race began. Competition became vicious as the two boats roared through the Deep South.

One boat began falling behind. Not enough fuel. There had been plenty of coal for the trip, but not enough for a race. As the boat dropped back, an enterprising young sailor took some of the ship's cargo and tossed it into the ovens. When the sailors saw that the supplies burned as well as the coal, they fueled their boat with the material they had been assigned to transport. They ended up winning the race, but burned their cargo.

God has entrusted cargo to us, too: children, spouses, friends. Our job is to do our part in seeing that this cargo reaches its destination. Yet when the program takes priority over people, people often suffer. How much cargo do we sacrifice in order to achieve the number one slot? How many people never reach the destination because of the aggressiveness of a competitive captain?

It's so easy in the race of life to focus so much on trying to achieve and win that we forget what's really important in our lives!

Many of us don't realize the gifts that God's given us in the people he's put in our lives.

When we get to the end of our lives we're not going to wish we owned more things or had more power or fame or got more degrees!

On your deathbed, none of these things are going matter anymore!

What will matter? You're going to wish you had more relationships and that you would've treasured and invested more in the ones you had!

The fourth gift that God has given us to manage in life is relationships. We'll talk more about that in a minute, but first...

Let me let’s go over what we’re trying to do in this series.

4 Sundays ago we started our “Life Management” series and I told you…

God has given you (and will give you) all of the "raw materials" and opportunities you need to reach your full potential.

At the end of our lives, no one is going to be able to blame God that he didn’t give them what they needed to make it in this life.

Whether you reach your full potential, or not, will be based on how you managed what you've been given. Did you waste your gifts or cherish them?

For 5 Sundays, we're looking at 5 of the most important raw materials you've been given to form your life with. I'm calling these 5 raw materials "5 Gifts" that God has given you to manage.

The FIRST week, I talked about the first gift that God has given us to manage, which is TIME.

We looked at this is the building block of all we do in life. I talked to you about the idea of giving your time to be with God and investing your time in ways so you’ll see payback now and in eternity.

You only have 1440 minutes given to everyday. If you sleep 7 hours that leaves you 1020 minutes. You can never get more. The only way to make more time is by managing it better. How we manage our time becomes our worship to God.

It makes Time Management a holy thing!

The SECOND week, I talked about the second gift that God has given us to manage, which is health. I showed you in the Bible that God cares about all of us – not just our Spiritual Health, but also our Mental, Emotional and Physical health.

I told you that how you manage your gift of health will decide the quantity and quality of your life.

Last Week, I talked about the third gift God has given us to manage, which is our wealth. It’s one of the only gifts that has a dangerous side to it. I told you that God is the one that gives us ability to gain wealth.

God cares how we handle our wealth. We saw in what Jesus said at the end of a parable in Luke that, in some ways, how we manage our wealth is “practice” for the TRUE riches that God wants to give us!

I showed you three ways that will help us to manage our wealth better: don’t waste it, grow it and share/give it. You can read these last three talks here on the “Life Management” Blog. Don’t forget to email your friends any posts that you think they’d like!

Today we’re going to look at this 4th gift: Relationships.

God’s given us relationships to help us. If you think about it, relationships are the real currency of life! Relationships matter to God! Think about how much of the Bible is about why/how to interact with people!

Here's just some of what God's word tells us...

"Do for others what you would like them to do for you."
Matthew 7:12

"Stop judging others, and you will not be judged."
Matthew 7:1 (Jesus of Nazareth)

"And why worry about a speck in your friend's eye when you have a log in your own?"
Matthew 7:3 (Jesus of Nazareth)

"Love your enemies! Do good to them! Lend to them! And don't be concerned that they might not repay. Then your reward from heaven will be very great, and you will truly be acting as children of the Most High, for he is kind to the unthankful and to those who are wicked. You must be compassionate, just as your Father is compassionate."
Luke 6:25-26 (Jesus of Nazareth)

This book teaches us to treasure people – to treasure our relationships!

It's a manual on successful human relationships!

I want you to realize something...

We were created for relationships! Daniel Goleman the author of the books “Emotional Intelligence” and “Primal Leadership” just recently came out with a book called “Social Intelligence”. I've been reading it and it reveals some pretty amazing things about the science of relationships!

One thing he says is that our minds are wired to connect! They are designed to connect with others! Listen to what he says...

“…our nervous systems are ‘constructed to be captured by the nervous systems of others, so that we can experience others as if from within their skin. At such moments we resonate with their experience, and they with ours. We can no longer… see our minds as so independent, separate and isolated, but instead we must view them as “permeable,” continually interacting as though joined by an invisible link.”

One of our core beliefs as a church is that you need two connections to succeed and reach your full potential: a connection (relationship) with God and a connection with others.

If you don't have BOTH of these connections, then you won't be able to reach your full potential!

It's obvious that without a connection to God you can't reach your full potential, but even with a connection to God, but not a connection to others you still can't become all that God created you to be!

When it was just God and Adam in the Garden of Eden, God said, “It's not good for man to be alone.” People were created for us to have relationship with, as a gift because relationships are a good thing. They’re what we need!!

Learning how to manage and grow in our relationships is one of the most important things we can do.

Dale Carnegie in his classic book “How To Win Friends And Influence People” said…

“Dealing with people is probably the biggest problem you face, especially if you are a business man. Yes, and that is also true if you are a housewife, architect, or engineer.”

A little later he gives the results from a Carnegie Institute Of Technology study that revealed..

“…even in such technical lines as engineering, about 15% of one’s financial success is due to one’s technical knowledge and about 85% is due to skill in human engineering – to personality and the ability to lead people.”

Learning how to handle relationships with others in one of the most important skills we can have!

I want to remind us today about some of the benefits God's given us in the gift of relationships and try to inspire us all to cherish and manage this gift more!

I'll show you the first thing I want you to see about relationships when I continue tomorrow...

Our 3rd Gift To Manage: Wealth -- Part 3

This is the third and last way I'm going to show us how to manage our money the right way today.

This last way is the THE major way to PROTECT and INSULATE yourself from the danger of wealth/money...

The third way to manage your money is to Give It Away/Share it!

Giving money keeps God “god” and keeps money from becoming your “god”!

John Piper in his book “What Jesus Demands From The World” says it like this…

“So the reason money is so crucial for Jesus is that across all cultures and all ages it represents the alternative to God as the treasure of our hearts, and therefore the object of our worship. It becomes the great threat to our obedience to the first and last of the Ten Commandments: “You shall have no other gods before me” (Exod. 20:3), and “You shall not covet” (Exod. 20:17). Money represents all the other material things and securities and pleasures that it can buy. Therefore, it represents the great alternative to God in our hearts. This is why what we do with our money is so crucial to Jesus.”

I want to give you some tips about giving today from what the Apostle Paul gives us in 2 Corinthians 9:6-14…

6Remember this—a farmer who plants only a few seeds will get a small crop. But the one who plants generously will get a generous crop. 7You must each make up your own mind as to how much you should give. Don't give reluctantly or in response to pressure. For God loves the person who gives cheerfully. 8And God will generously provide all you need. Then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others. 9As the Scriptures say, "Godly people give generously to the poor. Their good deeds will never be forgotten." F29

10For God is the one who gives seed to the farmer and then bread to eat. In the same way, he will give you many opportunities to do good, and he will produce a great harvest of generosity in you.

11Yes, you will be enriched so that you can give even more generously. And when we take your gifts to those who need them, they will break out in thanksgiving to God. 12So two good things will happen—the needs of the Christians in Jerusalem will be met, and they will joyfully express their thanksgiving to God. 13You will be glorifying God through your generous gifts. For your generosity to them will prove that you are obedient to the Good News of Christ. 14And they will pray for you with deep affection because of the wonderful grace of God shown through you.

Let's look at some of these tips:

Giving is always to God, not a church or pastor.
V.13-14 13 says You will be glorifying God through your generous gifts. For your generosity to them will prove that you are obedient to the Good News of Christ. "

Giving is a form of worship. It’s form of thanksgiving, a form of obedience.

You’re giving it to GOD to be used by a church or ministry. You’re NOT just giving to them.

There are two main areas the God says we should focus our giving on: poor/needy and ministry.

Give to as many ministries as you can, but you should first make sure give to God by giving to the local body of believers you are a part of!

Why?

That’s where God has planted you. It’s where you’re being fed spiritually. It will bless the church you are a part of, so it blesses the people you know. It helps your church to be able minister more effectively to the area where God’s put you!

The next giving tip is...

Giving should be planned.
V. 7 says, "You must each make up your own mind as to how much you should give…”

Gene Getz said…

"When money is available because we've planned our giving, it becomes a joyful experience to share it with others. We've not only prepared our hearts for that moment, but we've prepared our hearts in a broader way ahead of time, because we've arranged our giving together with our overall financial plans. In other words, we've prepared a budget.

"Conversely, when we don't plan our giving, we usually don't have money to give. Many of us tend to allow our standard of living to rise to our present level of income. Then, when we're asked to give (either regularly to meet the ongoing needs of the ministry or through special gifts for special needs), we respond reluctantly. This is understandable, since we've already spent our excess funds on our own needs and desires or laid aside that excess for our future benefit.

"Under such circumstances, negative emotions are predictable. Often we not only have no excess to give to God's work, but we're worried that we won't even have enough money to meet what we believe are our own needs. Yet, as with the Corinthians, this problem often is not God's but ours – the result of not becoming systematic planners and givers."

That's why w should plan our giving ahead of time!

How much will you give to God to be used for your church this month? How much will you give to Missions (reaching people here and in other countries)?

Most of us don’t carry cash, so we won’t have anything to give if we don’t plan it out!

The next tip is...

Give with happiness.
Paul says in V. 7 “Don't give reluctantly or in response to pressure. For God loves the person who gives cheerfully."

Don’t give cause you have to. Give because you want to! God doesn’t want your offering if you don’t want to give it!

The next tip...

Give a Tithe.
“Tithe” means 10%. In the Old Testament under the old covenant it was required. But the New Testament doesn’t mention it, so some people think it doesn’t apply anymore. (The funny thing is that the N.T. shows examples of some who gave way more than 10%, but that’s another story!)

I give my tithe NOT because I have to but because I want to! I give my tithe out of FAITH because I believe God’s given me all I have! I give it out of WORSHIP and THANKSGIVING for what he’s given me!

I do it to remind myself and show God I believe he’s going to KEEP providing for me!

This is one of the few areas where God tells us to test him!

Malachi 3:10-12 says "10Bring all the tithes into the storehouse so there will be enough food in my Temple. If you do," says the LORD Almighty, "I will open the windows of heaven for you. I will pour out a blessing so great you won't have enough room to take it in! Try it! Let me prove it to you! 11Your crops will be abundant, for I will guard them from insects and disease. F6 Your grapes will not shrivel before they are ripe," says the LORD Almighty. 12"Then all nations will call you blessed, for your land will be such a delight," says the LORD Almighty.

If you think about it the tithing is an amazing offer.

God’s saying, "I’ll give you everything, just give me back 10%." If you do, I’ll bless you even MORE!!!

It’s a SMART plan for God to create. It keeps us remembering that He’s our source. It keeps you relying on Him while at the same time it provides for the needs of the local church you’re a part of (v.10 "Bring all the tithes into the storehouse so there will be enough food in my Temple.)

Paula Davis told her story about her business making baby carriers that she started just awhile ago. She said that her sales started to dry up and she couldn't figure out why.

She realized she hadn't been tithing what she was making, so she tithed that Sunday.

That day she got 3 orders!

The sales stopped again and she tithed again and got a sale that day!

Tithing doesn't always work that fast or isn't always connected to seeing a direct blessing of money back.

Don't do it to get something back. Do it, because it's your worship, thanksgiving and faith in God for ALL he's done for you.

I have always tithed since I was a teenager. I don’t even think about it anymore. It's something on auto-pilot. I usually pay it first. It’s a habit.

If you haven’t been doing this, you might not even have the full 10% to give to God – even IF you wanted to!

If you don’t have it, but want to, then here’s my advice…

Start with what you can - maybe 5% or whatever - and make it your goal to work up to 10%.

REMEMBER:
Don’t do it to just to get back, but watch how God keeps his promise and blesses you!

You want to know something else?

This idea of tithing is talked about in a lot of secular success books as the KEY to gaining wealth! (I showed a stack of 4 books I brought.) They call it something like "a universal law of nature" or something like that!

That proves to me it’s a principle that works! Try it and see!

Here's the last tip on giving...

God will bless you when you give!
You’ll be rewarded now and in the next life. This is the way to store up treasures in heaven! Think of it as building up your Spiritual Assets column!

Jesus said it like this in Luke 6:37-38...
“Give and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down and overflowing… With the measure you use it will be measured back to you.”

This is another thing I say a lot because I want it to lock in your and my minds…

God is looking for givers to give to! He’s looking for people to bless who will share the blessing with others and give it to be used to see God’s work that needs to be done here and around the world.

W. Graham Scroggie says something that I think we really need to think about…

“There are two ways in which a Christian may view his money--'How much of my money shall I use for God?' or 'How much of God's money shall I use for myself?'"

Money/wealth is a powerful gift.

You can use this power for good or evil. You can use it to hurt or heal. You can use it to help yourself or others.

If you have enough of it you can do amazing things that can have eternal results!

Managing your money in ways to please God is done by managing our money in the rights ways we looked at today: not wasting it, growing it and giving it!

How can you keep from loving money is by holding it loosely. Be generous to God and others. Don’t look to it for security, but only to God the provider!

When you do you’re money will grow and bless you and others in ways you wouldn’t believe!