March 12

We are proud of our innate abilities. We can be objective enough to know that we lack many talents but we delight in the ones we have. Perhaps we are good with words. Perhaps we have skill with paints. Perhaps we can calculate mathematic equations in our head without error. Perhaps we are able to put other people at ease or to help them recognize the talents they possess.

We may be astounded in our abilities because they were not learned from the adults in our lives as we were growing up. Therefore, we may see ourselves as “self-made men.” But we’re wrong if we give credit to ourselves for any achievements we may accomplish with the talents we possess.

Exodus 31:3 says, “I have filled him with the Spirit of God in wisdom and in ability and in intelligence and understanding and in knowledge. I have given him skill in all manner of craftsmanship.” That covers everything—whether intellectual acumen, ability to empathize with others, or skill with tools of every sort—God has planted those talents and abilities within us.

He anticipates that we’ll use them to His glory. How do we know that? Because His Word specifies that He has created us for His pleasure. He, like a loving Father, delights in the honor His children’s lives bring to His name. If we use our abilities for only our aggrandizement, we will almost certainly achieve the recognition of men. But the praise of our Father is of infinitely more worth.