Using Your Gift to Serve
Month 9: The Spirit's Power for Witness · Loving Others
Today's Scripture
Read together: 1 Peter 4:10-11
10 As good stewards of the manifold grace of God, each of you should use whatever gift he has received to serve one another. 11 If anyone speaks, he should speak as one conveying the words of God. If anyone serves, he should serve with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory and the power forever and ever. Amen.
Memory Verse
“Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.”— 1 Corinthians 12:7 (BSB)
📖 Bible-in-a-Year (optional)
Today's reading: Psalms 115-117
Reading the whole Bible in a year — do this when you have extra time. (Around Day 260 of 365 — "Not unto us, O Lord... but to Your name give glory.")The Heart of It
Peter says it plainly. Each of us should use whatever gift we have received to serve one another, as good stewards of God's grace (). What is a steward? A steward is someone who takes care of something that belongs to someone else. Think of a kid babysitting a neighbor's puppy. The gift in your hands isn't really yours to hoard. It's God's grace, loaned to you to use for others. And Peter shows us two simple lanes. Some gifts are for speaking, like teaching, encouraging, and telling about Jesus. Some gifts are for serving, like helping, fixing, sharing, and comforting. Both matter. Both are ways to love people.
But notice the goal Peter aims at. He wants that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ (4:11). That's the secret that keeps serving sweet. When you help with the strength God supplies, the spotlight slides off of you and lands on Him. Picture a kid who carries groceries for an older neighbor. Picture one who teaches a little sibling a Bible verse, or who quietly cleans up without being asked. That child is doing exactly what Peter describes, and God gets the glory. You don't have to wait until you're grown to start. Your gift is already in your hands. Love somebody with it today.
Around the Table
God gave you something special so you can help other people. Helping others makes God smile!
Let's do it: Pick one way to help someone before bedtime. Then do it!
Gifts are either for speaking or for serving. Both are ways to love people. We are stewards, taking care of God's gifts well.
Let's talk: Are you more of a speaking helper or a serving helper? How could you use that this week?
The aim of every gift is that in all things God may be glorified. When you serve in the strength God supplies, the glory stays on Him, not on us.
Let's go deeper: How do you keep serving from becoming about your reputation instead of God's glory?
💬 Conversation Starter
Imagine you could secretly do one helpful thing for someone this week and never get credit. What would you do?
🛡️ Defending the Faith
A watching world is often won by service before it's won by words. When Christians quietly help, share, and show up, people start asking why. And that opens the door to tell them about Jesus (). Loving service is one of the most powerful, gentle arguments for the faith there is.
For Dad · Go Deeper
Peter ties the whole thing together with "the strength God provides." Even our serving is grace, not grit. That's freeing for a tired dad. You don't have to be the source. You're a steward, channeling what God provides. And the scoreboard is His glory, not your performance. This also reframes how you assign chores and responsibilities at home. You're not just dividing labor. You're discipling stewards. Help each child see whether they lean toward speaking gifts or serving gifts. Then give them a real, age-appropriate way to spend it on the family this week. Stewardship learned young becomes ministry lived for a lifetime.
Draws on: Sean McDowell, So the Next Generation Will Know.
Let's Pray Together
"Father, thank You for trusting us with good gifts. Help us take good care of them. Help us use them to serve others in Your strength. And in everything, let Jesus get the glory. In Jesus' name, amen."
My gift is grace on loan. I'll spend it serving others, so Jesus gets the glory.