Encourage Their Gifts!

What is your child's gift?

No, I am not talking about their gift from their last birthday or from Christmas. I am talking about the gift that God gave them. If we do not know the gift God has given them and do not encourage them in that gift, how can we expect them to fully worship God with their lives?

Jesus gave an interesting parable regarding talents. In this parable, Jesus states that a man was traveling far away and so he gave his servants different amounts of talents. The man gave five talents to one servant, two talents to another, and then one talent to yet another servant.

Eventually, (and without notice) the man returned to see what each of the servants had done with what he gave them. The man was pleased with two of the servants who had used the talents he gave them and actually increased their worth. Yet, the man was very displeased with the last servant who did nothing with his talent; instead, the man dug a hole and hid the talent in the ground. The man rebuked him as a wicked and lazy servant and commanded him to be cast out into utter darkness (Matt. 25:14-30 NKJV).

God has given each of our children "talents" to use in their lifetime. Some of our children will have many talents and some will only have one. Yet, regardless of the amount, the critical question is what will they do with what God gives them? Will they use it to the best of their ability and please God or will they disregard it and hide it underground and displease God? The answer to that question may very well depend upon what we (as parents) are doing to encourage what God has given each of them.

I recall my parents constantly encouraging me as a child. Mostly, they would encourage me that I had a gift of speaking. The more I would hear them encourage me, the bolder I would be in talking in front of classmates, signing up for impromptu speaking competitions, etc. That encouragement led me all the way to law school and to becoming an attorney. However, I now seek to go further and to use that skill to start a speaking ministry in order to glorify God. But, it all started by the encouragement my parents gave me as a young child. You see, they saw that special gift within me early on and watered that small seed with encouragement and it grew (and is still growing). 

In order to encourage our children in what God has given them, we first need to recognize what gift God has given them, right? I pray constantly for discernment in raising my three children. Some of these prayers focus on asking God to reveal their gifts to me, so that I can encourage them in those gifts in order for them to worship and glorify God in their lives.

Jesus says, "So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you" (Luke 11:9 NKJV). If we ask our heavenly Father for discernment in recognizing the gifts He gave to our children so that we can encourage them in it, do we really think He would disregard our request? Ask moms and you too shall receive!

My eight-year old daughter loves to write. At times, she will tell me what she is thinking of writing and it blows me away. She can express her love and adoration of Christ so beautifully with the simplest words. Instead of me smiling and writing something cute in a memory book about it, I stop what I am doing and verbally encourage her. I tell her that God has blessed her with being able to write so beautifully and that she should continue to do it to glorify Him. As I speak these words to her, I instantly see her face light up as she runs back to her little notepad.

Are you aware of your children's gifts? Perhaps they are a budding artist, a heavenly singer, a generous soul, or a compassionate child. It is so easy for us to inwardly acknowledge their gifts, but fail to outwardly build confidence in using those gifts. However, by outwardly supporting our children in what God has blessed them with, this will give them confidence to use what God has given them to glorify Him.

There is nothing more that I want than to see my children realize the gifts that God has given them and to use them to enlarge the kingdom and the King, how about you?

I challenge you to take a moment today to pray to God to reveal to you the gifts He has set within each of your children. After He reveals those gifts to you, use every opportunity to encourage your children to use that gift (or gifts) so that when their Father appears they can show Him how they used it and increased His kingdom with it!