The Joy Of Making A Difference

When you assemble, each one has a psalm, has a teaching, has a revelation, has a tongue, has an interpretation. Let all things be done for edification.
–1 Corinthians 14:26

I have heard Christians say that the greatest joy they ever had in life was when they met Christ as Savior, but the second greatest joy was discovering the unique spiritual gift God had given them.

There is a link between grace, spiritual gifts, and joy. The Greek word for “spiritual gift” is “charismaton,” which comes from “charis,” the Greek word for “grace.” And the root word for “charis” is “char,” which means “joy.” When we receive God’s grace, we receive a gift. And true joy in life comes when we exercise that unique spiritual gift God has given us.

Aren’t you tired of waking up in the morning, going about the mundane tasks of life, going to bed, and starting the cycle all over again? We all long to be a part of something bigger than we are, a cause that will transcend our own death. There is no more transcendent cause than building the kingdom of God, and God has given you a unique gift with which to join Him in ministry.

You might be thinking, “Are you really telling me one person using his spiritual gift in a local church can somehow make an eternal difference?” Consider the story of Edward Kimball, a carpet salesman who taught a Sunday school class at his local church in the 1850s. He became concerned about one of his students, so he went to the shoe store where the young man worked and talked to him about his need for Christ. Right there on the spot, the young man trusted Christ as his Savior. That young man was Dwight L. Moody, who became the greatest evangelist of the nineteenth century. He also founded the Moody Bible Institute, which later spawned Moody Radio and Moody Publishers. Today, millions of Christians are saved because of his ministry.

But it did not stop there. One of the people Moody counseled was a man named J. Wilbur Chapman, who became a Presbyterian minister. Chapman was instrumental in leading another man to Christ: Billy Sunday, the great evangelist. In 1924, Sunday was preaching in Charlotte, North Carolina, and out of that revival, a Christian businessmen’s club was formed. In 1934, this group decided to host an evangelistic crusade. One night during the crusade, a sixteen-year-old boy gave his life to Christ. His name was Billy Graham. God used him to win tens of millions of people to faith in Jesus Christ–in fact, maybe you are one of them. Billy Graham’s story started with one layman who decided to use his spiritual gift in a local church. Can a single Christian really make a difference? You bet. Find your spiritual gift and use it in the body of Christ.

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Today’s devotion is excerpted from “Good-Grace Churches – Part 2” by Dr. Robert Jeffress, 2020.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. www.lockman.org