God has given each of us incredible gifts. Whether you can paint, cook, sing, dance, preach, build... Whatever it is, having gifts is a great thing when we can use them to bring glory to God. Sometimes in the midst of trying to do so, we get caught up. We begin to be known for our gifts. We start to find our confidence in what we can do rather than who gave us the ability to do so. We begin to worship the creation when we should be worshipping the Creator. This is a dangerous spot I've found myself in many times.

In 10,000 years it isn't going to matter what our gifts were. What's going to matter is how we used them. Are we using our skills and gifts to build God's kingdom or our own kingdom? God deserves all of the glory. We do not. Without Him our lives would be meaningless, so let us use out gifts to bring glory and praise to Him alone. Psalm 115:1 says, "Not to us, oh Lord, not to us but to Your name be the glory because of Your unfailing love and faithfulness."

We get so caught up in how we look, talk, and in the things that we do. Even the greatest things we do are insignificant when they are not done in love! Let us step out of our worldly perspectives and into God's. We get tricked into finding our confidence in ourselves and the things we do or don't do, but once we find our identity in Christ we find true confidence. Christ is the only One who will never fade away. Earthly things will surely pass but God never will. Why do we waste our time trying to find ourselves in things that can be taken away at any moment? When we do that we are setting ourselves up for a let-down. Find your identity in Christ. He died for us, so why are we living for ourselves?

Check your motives. Check your heart. Whos kingdom are you building anyway?

I close my eyes and I'm brought back to a gathering of family and friends who've become like family. Laughter fills the air and the only thing on my mind is what song we're going to play next. Time passes and hours that feel like minutes go by.

Oh, to be back in that moment. I felt like I was on top of the world; like nothing could bother me. So, what makes that moment different from now? Why don't I still feel that way? What has changed? Is God's love for me any different now than it was in that moment? By no means.

What has changed is my attitude. My perspective. Sure, I'm not back home with my friends and family laughing uncontrollably or singing until my face turns blue (that's never actually happened... not yet anyways), but God is still good. As a matter of fact, He is great. Is He not worthy of my praise and a good attitude in both the good and the bad times? Certainly He is.

We cannot control what happens to us, but we can control the way we respond. In the midst of difficulty and adversity we need to remind ourselves that although the things around us change and fail, God's love never will. Nothing in all of the earth can separate us from His incredible love.

But it doesn't end there. We cannot just receive his love and expect to sit idle. God calls us to love Him with all of our heart, soul, strength and mind. We need to love God with everything we have in us. He is, after all, the creator of it all. Our love for Him should shine through our words and our actions. Jesus said they will know we are His by our love. (John 13:35)  But let us not forget that we cannot do this in our strength. To try would be a waste of time. It is in our weakness that God's power is made perfect! We ought not to try and do this on our own.

Let us love by the grace of God so that He may be glorified.